My Own Life
by BlueStar29
Summary: Yugi is tired of always having his friends around. He just wants to be by himself for a while ... then a new girl catches his eye.
1. The New Girl

_Okay, new story time. Honestly, this one just popped into my head. But, a few announcements: two stories that I, myself, think are stupid and will be getting rid of: first off,_ 'A Curse of a Choice'_. What was I thinking?! Well, I'll just tell you how it ends: Atem realizes the mistake he made and begs for Yugi to come back to him, but Yugi remains with Alana. Second, _'The Ol' Switcheroo_' If you wanna know how that one turns out, watch the movie and make it father/son in your minds like I did. I don't mean to sound harsh and rude, it's just that the more I think about those two, the more I think that they were just too stupid. But anyway, as for this one: of course, Alana will be in it (_as she always is when it comes to Yugi_). I wanted to go back to my semi-reality-teenage-conflict stories that I used to write. So, this story may be a little different and a little too ... "wordy" for lack of a better term, but I really do think that this will be good to replace those other two stories ... at least that's what I think right now ..._

_---_

It was a day that started out just like any normal day. Yugi Moto awoke to his alarm clock blaring at him and he groaned as he slammed his hand on the button to make the blaring stop. Slowly, he picked himself out of his bed and stretched. To most people, he was a very good looking kid. Sure, he was short and had an adorable baby face, but he was quite toned out; perhaps not as much as he should have been, because he was so thin, but he was by no means a young child. However, he did not see it like that. He was sixteen and still had a lot of toning out to do. He thought he could never look as good as his roommate and former spirit protector, Atem. Atem had once been a Pharaoh, and then a spirit that dwelled within a mystical puzzle. However, after getting his memories back and then winning the final dual, his ancient, mummified body, was restored and the spirit was able to re-enter it. So, now Atem looked like his original twenty-two-year-old self and lived with Yugi and his grandfather, turning the guest bedroom into his own. Anyway, Yugi knew he would never look as good as Atem; because of Atem's Egyptian heritage, he had the dark features of the Egyptians and exotic blood ruby eyes. The two were almost identical in the hair department, but Atem had a few more golden streaks then Yugi did. Atem was also very lean and very tone. His muscles could be seen through the tight shirts that he wore. Atem knew that he was good looking, whenever he came to pick Yugi and his friends up from school, all the girls would flaunt over him. Plus, he also spent hours in the bathroom, gazing at himself in the mirror. Yugi wished he could look like Atem, but knew he would never be able to get rid of the extra baby fat that kept that childish aura around him.

Anyway, Yugi slowly made his way over to the bathroom in order to take a shower, but found that the door was locked. The youngest of the household banged on the door.

"Come on, 'Tem, hurry up! I gotta go to school today!"

"Just a few more minutes!" Yugi slapped his own face with his hand and groaned in frustration. He knew it would be a long time before Atem pulled himself away from the mirror so that Yugi could take a shower. It was like living with the older brother he never wanted. Atem always had the bathroom in the morning, and it drove Yugi nuts! He was always late for school because he could not wash himself and then eat breakfast fast enough, and those rare days that he could, Atem would be looking at himself in the rear-view mirror of the car, that he would not see the green lights at the stop lights. Yugi began to tap his foot with his arms folded.

"Hurry up already!" He heard and annoyed sigh and finally the door opened.

"Alright, already; it's yours. Hurry up, though because I'm leaving in twenty minutes whether you're ready or not." Yugi's jaw dropped.

"That's not fair! You always do that!" Atem shrugged.

"I'm trying to teach you to manage your time better." Yugi could feel his blood boiling in his veins. Normally, he was not easily angered, but as of late, Atem had really been pushing his luck.

"You're the reason I'm always late! If you would just stop staring at yourself in the mirror for so long, I'd be able to take a shower earlier!"

"Do not blame me because you are the one that is disorganized; I'll go make you some breakfast and then we'll go; I promised the guys that I would give them a ride to school today too." And with that, he was gone. Yugi slammed the door shut and then made himself a warm shower. It was a good thing that he used a two-in-one shampoo; that cut the time of the shower about two minutes. After the shower, he went back to his room and dressed for the day. Normally, Yugi would wear the black tank-top that he always wore, but apparently, Atem had decided to raid his closet, after he specifically told the older not to, and took that shirt. Oh well, that was nothing to get upset over. Yugi did not want to dress like Atem anyway. So, he took out a nice blue t-shirt and got his coat. Atem was home all day, and became bored very easily. Grandpa forced him to help out in the shop, but he did everything so fast, that he finished way too early. Grandpa also considered it a favor for Atem to drop Yugi off at school in the mornings so that he could get things ready for another day of game sales.

As he made his way down to the kitchen, he saw Grandpa at the table, drinking his morning coffee and reading the newspaper.

"Morning, Gramps."

"Good morning, Yugi. All set for school?" Yugi nodded as Atem placed a piece of toast in his hand

"This is it? This is the breakfast that you made for me?" Atem grabbed the keys.

"It's something simple that you can eat in the car, now let's go!" Yugi sighed and told his grandfather that he would see him later.

---

As Yugi walked towards the car and sat in the front seat, he began to think to himself about how much Atem was getting on his nerves as of late. Was this what Pharaoh Atem was like? Or was it just something he had picked up not too long ago? But it was not just Atem that was getting to him; Joey, Tristan and Tea were getting a little too needy as well. It was not that they were ignoring him, but they did prefer to do more things with Atem rather then himself. So when Atem was resurrected, Yugi began to withdraw into himself. He would wake up, go to school, and come home; that was usually his day. He sighed to himself. Things have really gone down hill since Atem's resurrection. He reached into his bag and began to read a book called _Raven's Gate_. (_Greatest book in the world_)

As like every morning, Atem began to drive Yugi to school. He wondered what was going on in his light's life. He seemed to become very quiet over the past few months.

"So, Yugi … how are you?" Yugi did not even look up from his book.

"Fine." Atem tried again. "How are you doing in school?"

"Fine."

"Mind if I turn on the radio?"

"Fine." This was getting them nowhere. There was a thick awkward silence as they continued to drive to Tea's house. Joey and Tristan agreed to meet there because her house was the closest to Yugi's. The sixteen-year-old and the resurrected Pharaoh pulled up. Atem honked the horn to get their attention. Still, Yugi did not look up from his book. The three of them were all speaking at once, trying to talk over the other. It was a good thing that Yugi had learned to block out sounds.

"Hey, Yugi!" Joey said.

"Hey." Yugi responded, still lost in his book. Atem glared softly at Yugi for his rudeness, but decided to let it go.

"So, are we still going to a movie tonight?" He asked.

"Totally, I'm dyin' ta see _The Invisible_." Joey replied. Tristan agreed with him.

"Yeah, I hear it's a real thriller!" Tea nodded.

"Okay, then _The Invisible_ it is!" She looked over at Yugi and tapped him on the shoulder. She knew she had his attention, even if he still did not look away from the book. "Yugi, are you coming with us?"

"Can't I have to work."

"I thought they gave you the weekend off." Atem said. Yugi shrugged.

"Someone called in sick so I said I'd cover their shift." Atem sighed and started the car.

The car pulled up in at the school. Yugi kept to himself the entire time. He did not talk to them at all, even though they tried to start conversations with him.

"See you guys later, I'll give you guys a ride home if you want."

"Sounds cool!" Joey said. Yugi did not reply, he quickly left the car and went into the building while the others stayed to talk to Atem until the bell rang.

000

The school was the one place where he could get some peace and quiet, even if it was for only fifteen minutes. And it was a good thing that they made it there quickly too; he felt that if he spent another minute in that car, he was going to explode. It was not the fact that they were all talking to each other as loud as they could, it was that they were always there. If one were to spend too much time with someone, eventually, that someone would get on one's nerves. And that was exactly what they were doing. Yugi may have been the youngest of that group, but he was the only one with a job. He worked at Banana Republic in the local mall. He loved working there, and he loved the clothes he was able to buy with his discount. Unfortunately for him, Atem always used up his fifty percent discount for each month before he could. He was not even supposed to allow Atem to touch that discount, and he could not understand why he could not cut the narcissistic Pharaoh off. He was just glad that he could get a small break from---

_**RIIIIIING!!!!!!!**_

---too late … His fellow students began to pile in. Yugi sighed. '_Well, I guess the only salvation I'll get today is when I go to work …_' For the rest of the day, Yugi tried to avoid the gang, even when they began to follow him to the library at lunch. Finally, sixth period came around. Yugi loved his sixth hour; he was an office aide for the secretary of the school counselor's office, which was located by the library. He loved this hour because it was just him and the secretary, Mrs. Davis. He loved Mrs. Davis; she was the mother he never had, the mother that never abandoned him.

"Yugi, could you please deliver this to Mr. Simpson for me?" Yugi smiled.

"Sure, Mrs. Davis." Mrs. Davis smiled and returned to her computer. Yugi took the manila envelope and walked down the hall to one of the art rooms. It was nice to get at least some exercise during the day. On the way, Yugi caught sight of Joey sitting, or more like sleeping, in a freshmen algebra class. He was the only junior there. Yugi could not help but chuckle softly at that fact. Anyway, with his air-run finished, Yugi began to pack up his things to head off to his last class, which, to his dismay, had the whole gang in it; it was study hall. The bell rang, and Yugi went on his way to study hall.

"And then they chase us outta the theata b'cuz Tristan's phone rang and he was talkin' too loud on it." Tristan rolled his eyes.

"I had to talk loud so that Serenity could hear me!" Yugi, who was totally engrossed in his book, mumbled something under his breath.

"Much like how you're being now …?"

"What was that, Yugi?"

"Oh, nothing …" Yugi kept to himself for the rest of the hour.

---

After the last hour was over, Atem came and gave Yugi and the gang a ride back to their house. Since the others were going to the mall to see a movie, Yugi had to go with them in order to get to work. He just tuned them out by playing his iPod until he got to the store.

Banana Republic was a very nice store; of course it would be, seeing as how they were owned by Gap ®. They had very nice clothes for women and men. Yugi usually wore a light blue button-up shirt over a white t-shirt with tan cargo pants. He was lucky Atem had saved enough of his discount last month so that he could buy himself a new outfit.

"Okay, I'm here."

"Oh good, we're saved!" The store manager and Yugi's favorite boss, John, said. John was the main boss of Banana Republic and always gave Yugi a hard time because Yugi was the best cashier and clothing locater that they had. The sixteen-year-old took a walkie-talkie, placed a headset on it, and grabbed a lanyard to prove that he was a Banana Republic employee.

"Okay, what do you want me to do today, John?"

"I need you to help me train one of our new employees."

"Sure, no problem; on what?"

"She needs to learn how to use the cash register. This is her first time working in retail, so I need someone who knows that system inside and out." Yugi nodded and agreed.

"Yeah, sure; I could do that."

"Great!" John took the mouthpiece of his headset and began to speak into it. "Alana, will you please come to the front for me?"

"Sure, John." The voice over the headset had a foreign accent to it. Yugi gasped at the girl he saw walking up to them. She was absolutely beautiful. She had long, wavy black hair that fell in front of her face, dark brown eyes, and very tan skin; almost the same color as Atem's own skin, but not as much of a bronze color, which made it a little difficult to figure out where she was from. Judging by her accent, Yugi could tell that she was not originally from Domino. The girl smiled as she stood between Yugi and John.

"Hi …" He absentmindedly said.

"Yugi, this is Alana. This is her first time working in retail. Can you take time out of you schedule to show her the ropes?" Yugi was in a daze, looking at the new girl. He was almost drooling over her because she was so beautiful in his eyes. He had to snap himself out of the spell that this seductress was putting him under. Shaking his head a bit, he was able to respond to his boss's question.

"Yeah, sure." John smiled and went to go help a customer. Alana continued to smile at Yugi, showing off her perfectly white teeth. "Uh … hi …" Yugi's cheeks rose in color. Alana spotted his blush and giggled.

"Yeah, you said that." Yugi's blush grew, causing Alana to laugh at him.

"So uh … tell me what you've learned so far …" Had Yugi been paying attention to where he was going instead of how he looked to this new, pretty girl, he would have seen the cart of denim shirts and would not have tripped over it, totally flipping it over on his way to the other side of it. '_Oh God … how pathetic of me! She probably thinks I'm so stupid now …_' However, he looked up to see Alana offering him a hand to help him up.

"Here, let me help you up." Yugi hesitated before taking her hand.

"Th-thanks."

"You know, you're really cute when you blush." This caused another blush. He stood up and brushed himself off, acting like the incident never happened.

"Okay, so … let's try that again. Tell me what you know so far."

---

The rest of the evening passed a little too quickly in Yugi's eyes. Before he knew it, it was already ten-thirty and time to lock up. Yugi stood on a stool and was putting folded shirts on a shelf while Alana was sizing hanging shirts.

"Thanks for teaching me the proper way to fold a blouse, Yugi."

"No problem," He stepped down from the stool, "I had fun." When he came down from the stool, he stood face to face with Alana. She was a few inches shorter then he was, and since he was only 5'2, which had to make her either 4'11 or 5'0. They stood there, smiling at each other. "Hey, I know this is gonna sound really stupid after I totally made an idiot out of myself." Alana smiled even more, "But … do you wanna go get some coffee?" Alana smiled.

"It's pretty late …" Yugi looked at his watch;

"Yeah, it's almost eleven … forget I said anything." Yugi was about to turn away when a soft touch caught his arm.

"Well, what I mean is that I'd love to, but I'm very tired right now." Yugi let out a nervous chuckle and blushed.

"Well … I-I saw th-that tomorrow … neither of us have to w-work, s-so … maybe we c-could …" Alana could see where this was going and reached up to give Yugi a peck on the cheek, which caused his blush to grow.

"Tomorrow at four o'clock." She took out a piece of paper and wrote down her address." Yugi took it, still feeling a little dazed.

"Okay … tomorrow … four o'clock … see ya then!"

"Good night, Yugi!" Yugi watched as Alana took off in the opposite direction of the mall, her purse bobbing on her side.

"… I think I'm in love …" Yugi slowly walked toward the exit he always took, his hand never leaving his cheek. When he was outside, his pleasant daze was interrupted by Atem honking the car horn at him. Yugi groaned loudly. "Chill, you drama queen, I'm coming!" Yugi stormed his way into the car and slammed the door shut. Neither he, nor Atem, was very pleasant when they were tired.

"What took you so long?" Yugi shrugged.

"It's work; sometimes I don't get off on time." Atem groaned; he was really starting to have a problem with Yugi's attitude.

---

The next day followed quite the same as the last. In the morning, Yugi had told his grandfather about his date and asked if he could take them to Starbuck's ® that afternoon. Even though Yugi was sixteen, Domino City had a law about not letting kids behind the wheel until they were seventeen. Solomon asked Yugi why he did not want Atem to take him and Yugi's answer shocked the old man,

"Because I don't want them to meet her; they'll scare her away!" Solomon was awestruck. He could tell that Yugi was in need of a break from Atem, Tea, Joey and Tristan but he did not think that the boy was starting to think negatively about them. So the old man agreed.

Solomon drove Yugi to the address that the girl had given his grandson the night before. Yugi, being the gentleman that he was, escorted his date to the car and opened her door for her. Yugi introduced Alana to his grandfather.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you." Alana smiled that smile that made Yugi's legs turn to jelly.

"It's nice to meet you too." Solomon smiled and turned to around so that he could drive the two sophomores to the coffee shop.

Once they were there, Yugi opened Alana's door for her and whispered something to his grandfather.

"Grandpa, please don't tell Atem and the others about this. I don't want them involved in this part of my life." Solomon nodded.

"Have no fear, m'boy; I promise that I won't tell them about your new girlfriend until you're ready." Yugi blushed.

"Grandpa!" He slammed the driver's door shut as Solomon laughed and drove away. Yugi loved going to Starbuck's; even though it was quite expensive. He did not drink the coffee, he loved their frapachinnos. His favorite was the Duce De Leche, which was just a coffee drink with a lot of milk, whipped cream, and caramel. Alana ordered the same thing. The two talked the entire time, both quite enjoying the other's company.

"So anyway, I'm glad my father finally decided to settle down long enough for me to make a friend." Alana said.

"Wow, that's so cool. Being a military brat must have been exciting; seeing all those bases and traveling around the world." Alana giggled a bit.

"It was for a while, but then it got lonely. I don't really have a lot of friends." Yugi looked at her with a look that suggested that he did not believe her.

"Really, why not?" Alana sighed, stirring her straw in her frapachinno.

"I guess it's because I've traveled so much, I've never really have the time to make a friend … and now that I've been here for a year, I guess I'm a little too shy to make any new friends …"

"You've been here for a year? How is it that I've never seen you? What school do you go to?"

"I go to Domino North." Yugi smiled.

"Ah, so you're the enemy; I go to just plain ol' Domino High." Alana giggled again. (_That's how my high school was. There was the one that I went to, McCluer North, and our biggest rivals, McCluer_.)

"Yup, I guess we are enemies." The two laughed at that small expense.

"But anyway, I can't believe you're too shy about making friends … I mean, here you are sitting here with me, and you don't seem shy." This time, it was Alana's turn to blush.

"Well, I guess it's because I don't go to school with you. I mean, it's mostly just people I go to school with." Yugi scoffed in agreement.

"I hear you; I didn't have any friends until just last year."

"Really?" The boy nodded.

"Yeah, so I know how you're feeling." Alana smiled.

"Well, listen to me going on about myself, how about you talk about yourself for a while." Yugi sighed.

"Nah, you don't wanna hear about me …"

"Sure I do! If I didn't, I wouldn't have asked." It was hard to argue with that logic. What was he going to say, '_I'm an outcast that solved an ancient relic then became possessed for a while; oh, and my roommate's the one that used to possess me_.' Nah that may have been a little too much for her to take in on only one time with him. No, Yugi just needed to stay away from anything that had to do with either magic or his friends.

"Well, let's see … I live with my grandfather above our family game shop, I have a cat, her name is Ezzy, I'm sixteen, I go to Domino High, my favorite subject is English, in my spare time, I like to read as many books as I can, I consider myself a bit of a nerd, um … oh, and my favorite color is celestial blue." Alana giggled. She knew that Yugi was trying to avoid talking about something.

"Oh, come on, I told you my life story; now tell me yours!"

"I just did."

"No, I mean what about your parents? You haven't mentioned them at all." Yugi frowned and looked away from those sparkling dark brown eyes.

"Some parents aren't worth the breath …" He mumbled. Alana's face had a look of worry on it.

"Why do you say that?" Yugi sighed. There was no way she was going to let him change the subject.

"My father abandoned my mother while she was pregnant with me." Alana gasped.

"Oh no …"

"And my mother … well, let's just say that she's a very bad person …"

"Oh, Yugi … I'm so sorry …" Yugi shrugged.

"Don't be. I'm happy with my grandfather. He takes really good care of me. He took me away from my mother, if you could call her that, when she was about to … '_punish_' me …" Alana could see the pain in Yugi's eyes. It looked as if a tear were about to drop from those sparkling gems but he refused to let it fall. Suddenly, his face did a one-eighty as he smiled. "Hey, let's go see where else we can go." Alana agreed.

For the next three hours or so, Yugi and Alana went to all different kinds of stores; not really buying anything, just looking around. Slowly, they were making their way home.

"So this guy who looks like you, but isn't related to you, lives with you and your grandfather?" Alana said, trying to sum up everything Yugi had told her in the last few minutes as they walked down the street that she lived on.

"Yeah, that's pretty much it."

"How can you tell that he's not related to you?"

"Uh … we did a genetics test and it came back negative."

"Wow, that's just weird."

"Tell me about it." Soon, they arrived at the girl's front door.

"Well, thank you for the coffee, Yugi." Yugi smiled.

"Sure, no problem. Good night." He was about to walk away.

"Yugi …" Said boy turned around when his name was called.

"Yeah?" Alana fiddled with her keys in her fingers as she walked down the two cement steps at her front door and stood in front of Yugi.

"Um … your school … already had its homecoming, right?" Yugi shrugged.

"I didn't go, but yeah."

"Well … my school's homecoming is this weekend … and I … don't really have a date yet … and I was wondering … if you would like to be my date …?" It was more of a question then a statement, one that Alana spoke so softly, that Yugi had to strain his ears in order to hear her. When he did, he was taken aback.

"Can you do that?" Alana shrugged.

"Well … if I pay extra to get you in, then yeah …" Yugi smiled and bowed.

"Alana, I would be honored to take you to your homecoming." The Hispanic girl silently cheered.

"Really?"

"Sure, we'll have a good time!" She jumped up and hugged Yugi tightly, who groaned at the sudden impact.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, Yugi!"

"Sure … now, can I get some air?" Alana immediately let him go.

"Well, thank you so much, Yugi!"

"Sure. Well, I guess I'll see you at work tomorrow." Alana smiled and nodded as Yugi began to walk away.

---

On his way home, Yugi could not help but think about the date he had on Saturday night. He could not wait until then. For the most part, he had had the worst day … until he met Alana Martinez. The game shop came into view. He could see that one of the lights was still on, which was weird. Sure, his grandfather and Atem did not go to bed until ten o'clock, but they usually turned out the lights around eight so that all they had to do was turn off the TV and go to bed. As soon as Yugi opened the door and set his coat on the coat rack, the third degree began.

"Where were you?" Atem's booming voice asked, scaring Yugi a bit. The resurrected Pharaoh was sitting on the couch, watching TV with his arms folded, and a cross-word puzzle book on the coffee table, which explained why the light was on. Atem's eyes that usually held a lot of age and wisdom, but were very young looking held a look of tiredness and worry in them, making those blood red eyes look even older then usual. "Yugi, I asked you a question." Yugi sighed.

"None of your business, I told Grandpa that I'd be out for a while." He went into the kitchen, hoping his roommate would not follow him, but was shot down.

"But you did not tell me. Yugi, you always tell me where you're going!" Yugi reached into the refrigerator and took out a plate that was covered in plastic wrap and put it in the microwave.

"Yeah, well guess what: you're not my guardian anymore, so I don't have to check in with you."

"Of course I'm still you're guardian! Having a physical form doesn't change that!" The microwave announced that Yugi's dinner was warmed up and he took it out.

"Perhaps you haven't noticed, but I do have a life; one that you don't need to be a part of, so if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go up to my room and eat my dinner. I'll see you in the morning." Purposely bumping into Atem as he exited the kitchen, he made his way up the stairs and into his room, loving the gapping look he left the once mighty Pharaoh with. Yugi liked having a life that was just his and not one that he had to share with his friends. He wondered how long he could keep this going.

---

_End of Chapter_


	2. The Dance

_... ... No comment this time ... ... ..._

_---_

"Thank you, come again." Yugi said as he handed a customer a bag of clothing. As the customer left, and Yugi had nothing to do, he stole a glance at Alana, who was currently folding shirts. Yugi was lost in a pleasant daze as he went over and over in his head about how beautiful she was. He loved the way she pulled back her silky hair into a ponytail but it still had the natural wave to it. He loved everything about her, even though they had only known each other for a couple of days. They had been calling each other nonstop for the past few days. Today was Friday and it was only a matter of hours before Yugi would have his big date with Alana. He would have had another daydream, but an aggravating voice broke his concentration.

"Yugi, what the hell is this about?!" Yugi shook his head and saw Atem walking into the store. He rolled his eyes as his roommate came barging in, scaring some of the other customers.

"Oh, crap!"

"Yugi, what is this about?!" Yugi had absolutely no idea what he was talking about.

"What are you talking about?"

"Why is it that I can not use that discount anymore?!" At hearing this, Yugi smiled.

"Oh, that's because I put a lock on it."

"What?!" Yugi sighed; with a head as empty as Atem's, this was going to take a while. He called to his boss over the headset. "Hey John, I'm gonna take my break now so that I can get rid of an unsightly parasite." Yugi said, looking at Atem as he did. The once Pharaoh just rolled his eyes.

"Okay, Yugi; I'll cover you until you get back." John's voice said. Yugi took Atem by the arm and escorted him to the back of the store.

"Look Atem, that's my discount. Truth be told, you're not even supposed to touch it! It's only for me so that I can have clothes to wear to work!" Atem stood there, gapping like a fish.

"Well … what am I supposed to do then?" Yugi shrugged in a condescending way.

"You could always pay the full amount."

"But I don't have any money to spend …" Yugi shrugged again, this time smiling.

"Not my problem." The boy was about to walk away, but Atem grabbed a hold of his arm so tight that the nerves in Yugi's arm were tingling.

"Yugi, what is going on with you? You have been acting so different lately." Yugi tried to pull away, but Atem's grip was too strong for him.

"Let me go, Atem." Yugi said in a threatening way.

"No; you're going to stay here and talk to me so that we can figure out where we went wrong!" Even though Atem sounded as if he was demanding that Yugi obey, his eyes held true worry in them, worry about losing Yugi forever … and Yugi could see it.

"You think that just because I cut you off of my discount that I'm holding it against you for some reason?" Atem shook his head.

"No, this goes beyond the discount; you have been very quiet and very distant for the past few months and I would like to know why." He had that demanding tone in his voice again, and Yugi hated it when he did that. The younger sighed and tried to get Atem to let go of his arm.

"Atem, we'll talk when I get home … I promise … but right now, you need to let me go or I'm going to call security." Atem hesitated for a second. It was as if he thought that if he let go of Yugi's arm, then Yugi would leave him forever. "Atem …" At hearing the way Yugi was practically begging him to let the boy go, he decided to comply. Yugi rubbed his arms as soon as he got it back.

"This isn't over, Yugi; we're going to have along talk when you get home tonight." And with that, the ancient twenty-two-year-old walked away. Yugi sighed. How did he end up with such a drama queen for a dark half? He did not want to think about that right now. All he wanted to think about was making more sales for the store.

---

By the time he was finished with his shift, which ended earlier then he was used to, he was dreading heading home. The teenager was not looking forward to his upcoming conversation with Atem. Part of him was hoping that his roommate would find something else to occupy the Pharaoh's short attention span with, but the other part reminded him that the Pharaoh never forgets … unless it was his own fault. (_A little bit of a joke there; remember: Atem's the one who erased his own memories in the first place, so it was his fault that he became an amnesia victim._) He sighed as he entered the small game shop.

"I'm home!" he called, dreading his mistake as soon as it was made. It was like a call for Atem, warning him that the smaller was home. Yugi heard footsteps coming down the stairs. "Speak of the devil …" And there he was Atem, standing in front of Yugi with his arms folded and an angry, yet tired look on his face. He dressed in his red plad pajama pants with no shirt.

"Good, now that you're home, we're going to sit down and talk." Yugi sighed again.

"Can't I get myself something to eat first?" Atem grabbed his wrist and dragged Yugi into the living room and onto the couch.

"No." Atem sat down next to him. "Yugi, you have been acting differently ever since you obtained this retail position. Now, I know there is something wrong; you usually only become this quiet when something is bothering you … now please, tell me what it is." Atem seemed as if he were really concerned. Yugi had no idea why; there was nothing to be concerned about.

"'Tem, nothing is wrong with me," He shrugged his shoulders slightly, "so I'm going through a few changes, big deal …" Atem sighed and rubbed his eyes with his fingers.

"And I am not liking these changes one bit …" Yugi was growing a little agitated over hearing that.

"No, you don't like the fact that I'm growing up; you want me to stay that tiny little lump in the corner you found me in, don't you?!" Atem's blood-red eyes held shock in them from Yugi's outburst. He was not expecting that kind of a reaction.

"What?! How could you think that?! I'm glad that you are becoming more independent, it's just that as you grow up, you grow further from us as well!"

"Maybe it's you guys who are growing away from me! Ever think that we do a little too much together? Ever think that we spend too much time together?! Sometimes it's good to have a break from people once in a while!" Now the older roommate's face looked confused.

"Too much time together?" Yugi stood up, throwing his arms in the air for dramatic effect as well.

"Yes! I think you, me and the others spend way too much time together!" He was pacing around the coffee table now. "When I wake up, there they are, when I go to sleep, they're still here! It's too much and people can only stand so much of each other, I need a break!" He was starting to become hysteric now. Atem quickly stood up and held his smaller light by the shoulders.

"Alright, it's alright, Yugi … calm down." Yugi tried to shake himself loose from Atem's grip

"No, I'm not going to calm down because you don't get it!"

"Well, I'm trying!"

"Well you're doing a lousy job!" Yugi's breathing had become labored. He looked at his roommate, and former guardian, and saw what appeared to be true concern in his ruby eyes. Atem reached out for him, but Yugi took a step back, not wanting to be touched. And suddenly, he was very tired. "Look, what I'm saying is that I don't like having to share my life with you, Joey, Tea or Tristan. I want my own life … we've all been together for so long, it feels to me as if we're all living the same lives." He chuckled a bit. "I mean come on, they apply to attend Domino Community College, and you fill one out for me because you _assume_ that that's where I wanna go." Atem blinked in confusion.

"Didn't you want to?"

"No! I'm going to go to the college _I _want, not what _they_, or _you_ want!"

"Well … no one said you had to go there …" Yugi slapped his face with his hand.

"You're not getting this, 'Tem; I want my own life, and for the first time in a long time, that's what I've got. You don't need to know about everything that I do, so that's why I haven't been telling you about it." Atem nodded, not really understanding, but acting like he did.

"Alright, I think I understand; you want to be separate for a while."

"Exactly; I think it's for the best that I be by myself for a while before I totally lose it." Atem nodded again.

"Well, if that's what you want, Yugi … I will grant you that." After that was said, the ancient twenty-two-year-old stood up and went to his room without saying another word to his younger counter-part. Yugi sighed. He did not miss that disappointed and hurt look on Atem's face as he walked out. And as guilty as he felt, there was only so much Yugi could do, so he decided to try and not to lose any sleep over it. In fact, sleep sounded like a good idea right about now.

---

When Yugi woke up the next day, he walked down the stairs with a groggy look on his face and noticed that Atem and the others were sitting around the living room and looking at him with straight faces.

"Hello, Yugi." Atem slowly said. Yugi just grunted and went into the kitchen to get some breakfast. He cooked himself a bowl of scrambled eggs in the microwave and took it up to his room. When he reached his sanctuary, his cell phone rang.

"Hello?" He answered.

'_Wow, you sound horrible in the morning._' A cheery voice on the other side said. Yugi recognized that voice and his mood was automatically lifted.

"Hey, what are you doing up so early?"

'_Well, I always get up this early; my little brother, Antonio, likes to get up early and watch cartoons._'

"What does that have to do with you?"

'_Oh, he stomps all over the place in the morning and bumps into everything, so he's not the quietest person in the world._' Yugi laughed.

"Hey, I'd rather have a little brother that makes noises then an older roommate that takes everything I own." Alana had a small laugh at that.

'_So, are you ready for tonight?_' Yugi smiled. He was so excited about his date with Alana.

"Totally! I'd offer you dinner at a restaurant, but I can't drive just yet." Alana sighed.

'_Where I come from, you only have to be sixteen to get a license to drive_.'

"Well then, I wish I lived there. Where do you come from? I mean, where were you born, not where you came from last?"

'_I was born in Los Angeles, California_.'

"So close to Mexico, I guess that's where your roots lie, don't they?"

'_You are correct!_' They had another laugh.

"So I guess I'll come and pick you up at about seven, okay?"

'_Great, I can't wait!_' Yugi smiled. Alana gave him a feeling in his stomach that he really enjoyed.

"Me neither." They chatted for a few more minutes before they both hung up and Yugi decided to get dressed and go visit Mrs. Davis for brunch. He dressed himself in a t-shirt, a blue over shirt, and denim jeans. He came down the stairs, buttoning up that over shirt. Atem stopped Yugi with his palm.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Yugi rolled his eyes.

"I was going to go to Mrs. Davis' house; she invited me over for brunch." Atem glared a little bit at his young light.

"Well, you can't because we are going to see a movie, and then we're going to hang out at the mall."

"Yeah, and we'd invite you to come with us, but you don't, how did he put it, Tristan?"

"'_Didn't_ _wanna share your life with us'._" Tristan replied with a mocking tone in his voice. Joey nodded. Both sounded as if they were either really hurt or really pissed off.

"That's it." The tall blonde was hoping to hurt Yugi's feelings the way he did to them, but Yugi just looked at his blonde friend as if that comment meant nothing to him, which it did not. He only shrugged his shoulders and finished buttoning up his shirt.

"That's okay, I was gonna walk there anyway; she only lives right down the street." He smirked as he walked right past the group of awestruck teenagers. If they were ever getting on his nerves, it was now more then ever. Did they actually think that they could guilt him into taking back what he said? They could try all they wanted, but Yugi meant what he said because he had been more relaxed in these last few days then he had been in the past two years. He walked the two blocks to Mrs. Davis' house and had brunch with her husband, her son (_who was also a classmate of Yugi's_), and herself.

After that, he went back home and began to help his grandfather out with the shop for a few hours and then went to go make plans for the rest of the night. He really did want to take Alana to a restaurant for dinner, but he did not want his grandfather to run himself out by chaperoning two high school juniors around all night. He was too old for that, and besides, Grandpa liked to sit in front of the TV on Saturday nights. One thing entered his mind.

"Hey, Grandpa?"

"Yes?" His grandfather called from down stairs.

"What's Atem doing tonight?" He wanted to make sure his spoiled counter-part did not disrupt his date with Alana.

"He said that after the movie, they were going to go to Tea's house to watch more movies." Yugi rolled his eyes. Would those four ever grow up? And to think that they were the ones who used to tell _him_ to grow up just a few years ago! However, this was a good thing; as long as they were occupied for the night, he had nothing to worry about. Of course he would have to take his cell phone, so there was there was always the possibility of being interrupted that way … oh well, he just would not answer it.

---

At last, the hour of his excitement came. Alana had called him just so that she knew that he did not forget. How could he forget when he had been looking forward to this date all week? Yugi sat in the back of the car, twiddling his thumbs in anticipation.

"Yugi, relax; I can understand why you're nervous, but you're soiling your new suit with all your sweating. Yugi looked at himself. The armpits of his suit were stained. He gasped and reached for a small bottle of Axe that he had brought with him. He quickly sprayed himself in an attempt to stop the sweating.

"Okay … okay … I'm cool … I'm calm, and I'm cool …" He took in a deep breath, trying to calm his breathing down. Solomon just chuckled and continued the drive to Alana's house. Upon arrival, Yugi nervously walked up to the door. He took in another deep breath before he rang the doorbell.

'I'll get it!' He heard a small voice yell from inside. That must have been Antonio, the younger brother t hat Alana had mentioned earlier. The door opened and revealed a small Hispanic boy around the age of six.

"Uh … hi, my name's Yugi …" The small boy just looked at him with his baby cheeks and blinked. The staring was starting to get on Yugi's nerves. He had no idea why this boy was only staring at him. "Uh … i-is A-Alana home?" The boy just continued to stare.

"… … …ALLY! YOUR DATE'S HERE!" He yelled so suddenly, surprising Yugi causing him to cringe and cover his ears. He could hear a female voice, somewhere in the back of the house, yelling in Spanish and then Antonio responded by also yelling in Spanish. Finally, Alana came in, trying to get her earring into her ear.

"Antonio, go play with your little toys, you brat!" (_She actually said '_brat_' in Spanish, but I don't know the word for it._) Antonio retaliated and called her a 'meanie' in Spanish. (_Once again, don't know the word_.) She smiled at Yugi.

"Hi." Yugi could not stop looking at her. She was wearing a long, sparkling black dress that had spaghetti straps at the top. She had crystal necklace that had three jewels in a row going down her chest. The necklace matched the earrings and bracelet that she wore. Her hair was up and styled with sparkling berets. Her make-up was the exact same shade as her naturally tanned skin that Yugi could swear that he would have almost mistaken her for not wearing any, had her dark red lip stick not stood out. He could have been drooling because she was so beautiful. "Yugi?" Yugi shook his head a bit.

"Hey, sorry I'm a few minutes late; I-I couldn't decide whether to wear black or navy …" He knew he was sweating even more now, but Alana just giggled. She turned around and yelled something in Spanish to her mother, who responded in Spanish.

"_Mi Mama_ said to have me home before eleven."

"Alana has a da-ate! Alana has a da-ate!" Antonio sang from the other room, teasing his older sister.

"Shut up!" She yelled. Yugi laughed. She stepped out and closed the door behind her. "Shall we?" Yugi nodded and allowed her to take his arm. The walked to the car and Yugi held the door open for her.

"After you, Milady." Alana blushed and entered the car. It did not take long before the car came to a stop … but Yugi noticed that something was wrong.

"Uh, Grandpa … this isn't Domino North School …" Solomon smiled.

"I know; I also know how much you kids today like to go out to dinner before you head over to the dances, so I thought I'd drop you off here at Rizzo's and you could walk the rest of the way to the school since it's right across the street." Yugi looked out the window, and sure enough there was Domino North right across the street. Yugi smiled and went up to the front seat to thank his grandfather and gather the fifty dollars that he offered.

"Thanks, Gramps."

"No problem; just get her something expensive." Yugi rolled his eyes as his grandfather laughed. Both he and Alana got out of the car and watched as Solomon drove away.

"Well, I guess we should go get some dinner, you hungry?"

"A little." Yugi held out his arm again and Alana took it. They really did feel like an actual couple. Inside Rizzo's restaurant, Alana recognized some of the people from her school that were also going to the homecoming. Some of them invited her to sit with them, but she introduced Yugi to them and decided to sit alone with her date. A hostess seated them in a booth. The restaurant was fairly dark so it gave off a romantic theme. "Thank you for taking me to the dance tonight, Yugi; and for the dinner." She added the second part with a giggle. Yugi smiled his famous, shining smile.

"Of course! I'm having a great time! But thank my grandfather for the dinner; I had no idea he was going to do that." Both laughed at that statement.

"I'm glad he did." Yugi blushed. Alana felt as if she could not resist making fun of him. "You know, you're really cute when you blush." This deepened the red on Yugi's already cherry red face. Because Yugi's blush intensified, Alana laughed again. Alana's laugh was always contagious to Yugi; every time she would laugh, he would always follow her example. Spending time with her always made him feel better. He never wanted to let her go. Thinking of that thought, he knew he was in love. How it happened so quickly was beyond him, but he knew he was in love. He cleared his throat as he picked up the menu.

"Uh, maybe we should order."

"Good idea." Luckily for them, the waiter came and took their orders. Alana was a little worried about how much it would cost, but Yugi told her to order anything she wanted. Still, her worry did not subside, so she only ordered a helping of Fettuccini Alfredo. Yugi ordered his usual, which was _Linguini Con Pece_, which translated to '_pasta with fish_', or his own personal nickname for the dish, '_fish pasta_.' However, Yugi regretted it the minute he ordered it, remembering how much it was absolutely filled with garlic.

---

After eating the dinner, which Yugi took home most of his pasta, they headed off to the dance. The gymnasium of Domino North was much larger then the gym of his own school. It was set up so that two gym classes could take place at the same time on each side. The neon lights, decorations and loud music made it seem even bigger. The two were told to check their coats, and Yugi's doggy bag, by some of the student council members.

"Come on, Yugi; let's dance!"

"You got it!" Alana took his arm and dragged him onto the dance floor. It was a little hard for Yugi to get into it since he was in an entirely different place with people he did not know at all. There were so many lights of different colors that they blinded him for a second. He watched Alana move to the beats. The way she moved so freely suggested that she danced quite a lot.

"Come on, Yugi!" Yugi gulped and began his own freestyle of dance moves. After no one began to make fun of him, he increased his speed and moved closer to his date. Alana tried to get as close to him as she could. Yugi noticed this and took her hand in his own, twirling her in a circle and she ended up in his arms. The circle of people around them began to clap and cheer, acting as if they had never seen someone from their generation pull that spin off so easily. Alana and Yugi did not notice; they also did not notice when people began to encircle them, watching their every move. The other students were in awe at how free Yugi seemed. He kept looking at Alana and the movements just seemed to flow right out of him. He could hear some of their whispers.

"Look at the guy that scored Alana Martinez!"

"Who's that kid?"

"Isn't that Yugi Moto?"

"I've never seen him at our school before."

"He's such a good dancer!" These comments meant nothing to Yugi. All that mattered to him was how free he felt when he was with Alana. Suddenly, music changed from upbeat to a tango rhythm.

"Oow, I love the tango!" Yugi knew that dance; he had seen it on TV a lot. He let out his hand and Alana spun into him again. The crowd of students cheered, seeing how beautifully Alana spun into the outsider. (_And by '_outsider_', I mean that he's not from their school_.) Yugi wrapped his right arm around the small of Alana's back and she wrapped her left arm around his neck, allowing their free hands to clasp together as they stepped in beat together. Yugi gave her a dashing smile, which she laughed at. The crowd of students kept cheering them on and telling them how great they were. Yugi pulled the dip off very nicely and Alana wrapped her leg around his thigh. He blushed when the crowd began to '_whoop_' them. He pulled her up and she spun out of his arms again, she let her arms balance her spin for dramatic effect and came to a sudden stop before she was pulled back in and then Yugi lifted her up and caught her in his arms just as the music ended. The crowd cheered so hard that it felt, to Alana, that she was back in the pep rally that had taken place just the day before. Both were very sweaty, but not tired whatsoever.

The two made their way off of the dance floor to get some punch. Yugi was laughing; he had not had that much fun in so long.

"That was a blast!" Alana laughed along with him.

"You were great."

"Where did you learn how to dance like that?" Alana looked at him as if the answer were the most obvious reason in the world.

"Hello! I'm Hispanic, Yugi; we're born to dance!" Yugi slapped himself, feeling very stupid for not knowing that. "The bigger question is where did you learn to dance the way you did?" Yugi blinked, wondering that very same question.

"… I didn't." Alana was taken back a bit.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I never learned how to dance like that before tonight; all I did was just wing it." This answer surprised Yugi more then it did Alana. Usually, in order to impress the pretty girl, the guy would just lie and say he learned it from the most expensive school around, but Yugi found that he could not lie to her at all.

"Well, wherever that came from, it was a hit!" Yugi agreed. Just then, a nerdy looking kid with a camera came up to them.

"Hey, mind if we get a picture for the yearbook?" Yugi blushed. This was how it was back when he was a famous duelist, but that had quickly gone down the drain as soon as Atem made his debut and took the attention away from the younger, which Yugi was grateful for; he was _very_ camera shy. He opened his mouth and was about to refuse, but Alana beat him to it.

"Sure!" Yugi looked at her with terror in his eyes.

"But – but – but – but"---

"Come on, Yugi; it'll be fun!" She pulled Yugi against her. He nervously wrapped his arm around her. "Yugi, are you okay?" He just continued to stare at that camera and shiver. Alana sighed. "Give us one second." Alana pulled Yugi behind a wall. "What's the matter with you?" She asked. He still could not get rid of the terrified look in his large amethyst eyes. All he could think about was that camera.

"I-I-I-I"--- Alana put a hand over his mouth.

"You have stage fright, don't you?" Yugi nodded.

"G-gee, how c-could you tell?" Alana smiled.

"Don't worry, there's nothing to be scared of; everyone loved you out there!"

"You don't understand; this has happened to me before; cameras and I don't get along! When I was in first grade, I was supposed to make a video present with my class for '_Grandparents' Day_', and I choked on saying the word '_grandpa_'. It came out '_gr-gr-grape fruit_'." Alana laughed at that story while Yugi sighed. "Yeah, that's what everyone else did too …" He hung his head, feeling a little bit of self-pity. Alana could see the true pain and shame in his eyes. She slowly walked up to him and gave him a hug, which her date gladly returned.

"Yugi, that was eleven years ago, have you been afraid of all cameras ever since?" Yugi rapidly nodded his head. "Well, I've got a way to get rid of some of that nervousness," She took Yugi's arm and slowly began to walk back over to the newspaper photographer, "in your mind, try to picture the funniest thing you can think of." Before Yugi knew it, they were right back in front of the dreaded camera. Yugi gulped and closed his eyes, trying to think of something funny.

_The first thing that came to mind was Yami, Joey, Tristan and Tea standing on his front porch, laughing with each other when Yugi had called their names from the roof, they looked up, and he, along with Alana, both poured buckets of blue paint all over them. They screamed bloody murder as they were covered with the blue gunk. Payback for their neediness was so sweet!_

Yugi opened his eyes; he was also laughing. Alana smiled, happy that she was able to rid Yugi of his camera shyness. "What's with him?" The photographer asked. Alana laughed and Yugi pulled her close, posing for the camera.

"Nothing, just take the picture!" She replied. The photographer shrugged and did as he was told. The rest of the night went smoothly. Yugi entered some kind of contest and won a door prize of one day off from school. Since he did not go to that school, he gave it to Alana, who was very grateful for it. The last song that played for the night was a slow song. It was '_Far Away_' by Nickelback. (_I consider that a slow song; and it just seems right for Yugi and Alana._) Alana rested her head on Yugi's chest while Yugi held her waist with both hands. He was able to take an inhale of her hair. The scent was so wonderful. Alana's hands were resting on his shoulder blades. She seemed to be so relaxed in his arms. Suddenly, a vibrating went off in his pocket. It was his cell phone.

"Damn it." He swore under his breath. Alana allowed him to grab it. He looked at the caller ID screen, which said '_Atem_' Yugi groaned and put the phone back in his pocket before he embraced Alana once again.

"Who was it?"

"No one important." Alana did not ask questions; she simply laid her head back on Yugi's chest and dropped the subject.

At about eleven forty-five, Solomon arrived to pick them up from the dance. He could tell that both teenagers were quite tired, but had a lot of fun. It was not too long before he arrived at Alana's house. Yugi escorted his date to her front door. They stood outside on the porch for a few minutes, just smiling at each other.

"I had a really good time tonight, Yugi."

"Me too, one of the most fun nights of my life." Alana smiled.

"Well, good night."

"Yeah … good night." Yugi was about to walk away when he turned around. "Alana," said Hispanic girl turned. Yugi bit his lip, hesitating on his next question, "Uh … would you … by any chance … want to … go out with me again … on Wednesday?" Alana smiled.

"I was wondering when you were going to ask."

"So … is that a yes?" Alana walked over to Yugi and quickly gave him a small peck on the cheek, which caused another round of blushing.

"Definitely." Yugi placed his hand on his cheek. Yugi was lost in a daze once again. He stumbled back to the car and waved to Alana as soon as he got there. Solomon looked back at him.

"Yugi, you were supposed to stay up there until she went inside!" Yugi kept smiling in a dreamy state, watching Alana walk into her house.

"I don't think so …"

"Why not?"

"Had I waited another second, I wasn't gonna come back." Solomon laughed and started the drive to the game shop.

---

As soon as Yugi and Solomon walked in the door, Atem turned on the third-degree. "And just where were you tonight?" Yugi glared at his roommate.

"It's none of your business." Atem was about to retaliate and knock some sense into Yugi, when he saw Solomon walk into the room.

"Don't worry, Atem; I gave him permission to be out tonight." Atem had a confused look on his face. He turned to look at Yugi, but the boy had already rushed up the stairs and into his room.

"But … he didn't tell _me_ he was going anywhere …" Solomon just shrugged.

"All part of his independence. Now, leave it alone and go to bed." Atem wanted to argue some more, but it was clear that no matter what he said, he was going to be made a fool.

---

Up in his room, Yugi was already on his laptop. He did not use it for chatting or instant messaging; he just liked to have his own computer since Atem always hogged the main computer for the house. His first five paychecks, along with some money from his grandfather went into the laptop. He loved it; he could not live without it. And since Atem had a habit of raiding his room and finding his past journals then looking through them, he kept his most recent journal on the laptop. He had it programmed so that it needed a special password in order to access it. In his mind, typing was so much faster then writing. He wrote down the events of the night and how he felt about them. If he did not write down his feelings, then the negative ones always bottled up and he would do bad things to himself. So, his therapist suggested that Yugi should write down his feelings in a journal. Hence the reason he was doing it now.

Once he finished, he was going to shut down the computer and play his Nintendo Wii until he was tired enough to go to sleep, but he heard a knock at the door. "Yugi, can I come in?" Atem asked. He did not even wait for a reply; he just came walking in on his own.

"What do you want?" Atem sat on the bed and crossed his arms.

"Yugi, why won't you tell me what you did tonight? I gave you as much independence as I could, but I don't want to not know what you have been up to lately." Yugi blinked. Sometimes Atem could really be as dimwitted as Joey … perhaps even more so.

"You call one day enough independence? Atem, I told you that you don't need to know about everything that I do."

"I know, but I want to know."

"Well, that's too bad; because I'm not going to tell you." Yugi was about to get up and go brush his teeth when Atem stood in his way.

"Yugi, what is wrong with you?! Why don't you want me to know anything about you anymore?!"

"Because I'm finally happy, that's why!" Shock was clearly written all over Atem's face.

"What do you mean? You … haven't been happy?"

"Duh!"

"But … you've been so quiet … how was I supposed to know that you were unhappy?" Yugi slapped his own face.

"Atem, I was quiet because I wanted to be left alone! But lately, I've been happy because I've met someone!" Now Atem was _very_ surprised.

"You've met someone? Who?!" He was none too happy about the fact that Yugi thought he was old enough to start dating.

"I'm not telling you because you'd just scare her away." Yugi purposely shoved his way past Atem and then stopped at the door. "Oh, and by the way, don't think I didn't hear that thought of yours; I am old enough to date whom ever I want! I'm not ten anymore! So just leave me alone!" He stomped down the hall and slammed the door shut. Atem cringed at the slammed door.

"He's dating someone … who could this person be?" He thought out loud to himself. The resurrected Pharaoh looked at Yugi's computer; had he known the password, he would get on that laptop and find out for himself. But since he did not, that allowed problems to arise. He let out a loud sigh and put his hands on his hips. "Well, I guess I'm just going to have to figure this out the hard way." A smirk formed from Atem's lips as he said those words with a tone of evilness in them.

---

_End of Chapter_


	3. Time for a Change

_This hasn't been updated for a while b/c I've had some unexpected turn arounds that I'm not going to bore you with now. Anyway, some people might get pissed at me for making 'Tem seem like an arrogant bitch-ass in this chapter since he's a popular character, however is not my personal favorite, he's a '_sorry_' for you. I'm only making him seem like a ... what I called him earlier, but it's just fun for me to make fun of him ... he makes it so easy! _giggles_ Anyway, sorry if it seemed as if I was picking on him in this chapter. Oh, also, some phrases may not make sence (_if you don't live in my mind_) so if you need explaining, ask me what something means and I'll try to explain it. Sometimes I forget no one thinks like me and the things I say don't make sense._

_---_

For the next week and a half, Atem did everything he could think of to try and get Yugi to open up about whom he was seeing, but Yugi remained as secret as ever. While Yugi was at school, Atem would go around the boy's room, looking for whatever would give him a clue about this mystery person. Some times, he made a big mess. The older tried to clean it up before Yugi got home, but he was not very good at it. Yugi became very angry that Atem was invading his privacy. After that, Atem finally gave up looking for clues. The only other option would be through e-mail, but Yugi's computer was protected by a password so there was no way he could open that. However, that did not mean he was going to give up. Atem narrowed it down to someone at school or someone he worked with since Yugi hardly ever went out nowadays. Right now, Yugi was trying to read some of _Raven's Gate_, but Atem kept interrupting him.

"Who is it?" Yugi rolled his eyes and groaned loudly.

"For the fiftieth time, I'm not telling you!"

"Why not?!" Atem seemed to be begging more then anything.

"Because it's none of your bee's wax." Yugi simply said before he got up and went to go read his book in the privacy of his bedroom. Atem practically pulled his hair out of his head due to frustration. He hated that there was something going on in Yugi's life that he was not a part of. And Yugi knew it; he knew that it was driving the former Pharaoh nuts by keeping everything about Alana a secret. However, Alana did not seem to have a problem with it. She asked about his friends a few times now and then, but other then that, she let the subject drop. Yugi and Alana talked a lot on the phone. Yugi often did not give out his home phone number, and certainly did not want to give it to Alana. Yes, Yugi was finally happy and he was not going to let that '_passé_' ruin it.

The next morning, Atem and Solomon were downstairs while Yugi had locked himself in the bathroom after his shower. Neither knew what the youngest house member was up to. Yugi looked at himself in the mirror. The more he looked, the more he saw Atem in himself.

"Yuck …" He said to his reflection. Turning out to be like Atem, physically, verbally, or mentally, was not something he wanted _at all_. Sure, the spikes in Atem's hair were a deep red while Yugi's were more of a deep purple, and Atem did have more blond streaks, but still, the fact remained that the two were too much alike; if Yugi wanted to become his own person, then he would have to have his own hair style. That was why he bought the styling supplies that he had bought a few days ago. Since the dance, he had been debating on whether or not to change his look. After seeing his reflection that day, he decided that it was time for a change.

---

Downstairs, Atem was making scrambled eggs for breakfast and Solomon sat at the table, reading the newspaper.

"Solomon?"

"Yes?"

"How much butter are you supposed to put in the pan before you start to cook?" A little concerned about that statement, the oldest house member got up and went to the stove. Apparently, Atem could not use the metric system just yet; there was so much butter that it was overflowing from the pan.

"Hmm … well, I know for a fact that you're not supposed to douse the pan before cooking."

"… So … did I do it wrong?" Sending the Pharaoh to sit down at the table, Solomon decided to take over the cooking of breakfast. Atem pouted, picking up the newspaper to check the weather. The sound of footsteps could be heard coming from the stairs.

"Hey, guys." Yugi said. Both of his house mates had yet to look at him.

"Hello, Yugi." Atem said, still looking at the paper. Solomon had the pan in his hand as he began to turn around.

"Good morning Yu --- ahh!" In his shock, the old man dropped the pan and butter spilled all over the floor.

"What's wr--- _**OH MY GOD!!!!!**_" Atem screamed, a little louder the Solomon yelled. Both stared at Yugi, who had his hair gelled back. The once-spikes were now laying flat and his bangs lay on top of them and they were all purely straight, but the single small bang between his eyes stayed where it was, it was just straight instead of jagged.

"What?" The smallest one asked as if nothing was out of the ordinary. (_If anyone has seen the way I draw Yugi with his hair pulled back, that's what I'm talking about._) Solomon was still in shock, but Atem seemed to get over his pretty quickly. He slowly crept up to his smaller counter part.

"Yugi … what happened--- no, who _destroyed_ you?!" He accusingly asked, seeming a little offended. Yugi glared.

"What, you don't like it?"

"Of course I don't! You look ridiculous! Why would you do this to yourself?!" Yugi was beyond offended now. Luckily, Atem's opinion meant squat to him. The youngest house member shrugged.

"Well, I like it; I just thought it was time for a change." Yugi replied before he casually walked over to the refrigerator to get a glass of orange juice, being careful not to step in the spilled butter. Atem was at a loss for words. He was beginning to make stuttering sounds.

"I --- you ---," he looked to Solomon for help, "help me out here!" Yugi looked toward his grandfather, whom had not spoken a word since Yugi's entrance. Solomon cleared his throat.

"Well, I think it looks absolutely marvelous."

"See, even your grandfather thinks--- _**WHAT?!**_" Solomon smiled and stood next to Yugi, placing an arm around the boy's shoulders.

"Yes, it's a nice change and it seems to suit you quite nicely, Yugi." Said junior smiled and hugged his grandfather.

"Thanks, Grandpa! Glad at least _someone_ approves." Yugi glared at Atem while saying that last sentence. Atem could not say anything else; obviously, this was a losing battle for him; something he was not used to.

"This is not natural! There is no way I'm letting you leave this house looking like that! You go upstairs right now and wash that crap out of your hair, Young Man!" Yugi scoffed and looked at Atem with a face that said '_like I'm really going to listen to you_'. Atem glared at his lighter half, thinking it would have as strong of an effect against Yugi as it once had, but the junior just smirked at his dumbfounded dark and slowly walked up to him.

"You know, 'Tem, first of all, you are _not_ my father so I don't have to listen to you," Atem opened his mouth to say something, but Yugi continued on, "and two, your opinion means nothing to me; I did this for one person and it wasn't for you." Purposely shoving into his roommate's side, Yugi moved past him and out the door. Still a little shocked, Atem looked at Solomon as if he had the answer to this problem.

"Are you going to let him be seen in public like that?!" Solomon exhaled loudly. It seemed that, like Yugi, he too had had quite enough of hearing Atem's constant whining.

"Oh, get over it, Atem! He's a sixteen-year-old boy and it's his hair, so he can do what he wants with it." Without another word, the oldest house member left Atem to gather up what had just happened.

---

On his way to school, Yugi thought about the reaction his former guardian had given him. Yugi had said that Atem's response did not bother him, and he truly wanted to believe that, but somewhere deep down, he did feel a bit of pain in his heart. Luckily, he was able to dismiss it quickly as he entered the school grounds. Heads automatically turned and gasps were heard when others had caught sight of the new look that Yugi Moto had created for himself.

"Is that Yugi?"

"He looks so hot!"

"I love his new style!"

"He can really pull it off!" The high school junior smiled as he heard all these comments and more. Some were whispered to other students and some were said out loud to him as he passed. Either way, he was getting positive feedback, so he figured he made the right choice. Turning a corner, he saw Joey, Tristan and Tea talking to each other.

"Oh, crap!" He whispered to himself and tried to speed-walk in the opposite direction so he was not seen, but unfortunately, he was not so lucky.

"Hey, Yugi!" He heard Joey call.

"Double crap …" He whispered again. The smallest junior could hear their footsteps coming closer to him. Finally, he felt that harsh slap on his back that Joey thought was only playful. The impact caused Yugi to topple over a few steps, his back stinging a bit.

"Whoa, check out the new do!" The loud-mouth blond exclaimed, loudly. Tristan was taken back a bit he could only utter one word.

" … Whoa …" As Tea caught up, she gasped.

"Yugi … what did you do to your beautiful hair?" Yugi glared.

"It was time for a change, so I changed it." The bell rang and Yugi began to walk over to his locker. He assumed that the other three would drop the subject and go to their own lockers, but they followed him instead.

"But … why did you change it?" Tea asked. Yugi slammed his locker door shut.

"Because I wanted to."

"What does 'Tem think about this?" Tristan asked.

"Who cares?" Yugi replied, rather rudely. All three stopped in their tracks. At feeling the tension that had just been created, Yugi turned to look at them. "What?" Joey was the one to speak up.

"You mean you don't care what your own dark thinks?" Yugi chuckled.

"No."

"But … he's still a part of you …" Tea mentioned. Yugi rolled his eyes.

"Thank you for pointing out the obvious, but I really don't care what '_His-Royal-Pain-in-My-Ass_' thinks right now, and frankly, I don't care what anyone thinks. I like this new style, and if I want to keep it, then I will." The three friends were speechless for a few seconds before Tea spoke again.

"But … your hair has always been your trademark"--- Yugi quickly cut her off.

"No, that was Atem's trademark; I didn't have one. Now, enough about my hair; if you'll all excuse me, I'm going to be late for psychology class." Without another word, Yugi walked down the hall and turned a corner. Tristan scoffed.

"Dang, he's really starting to get on my last one."

"I hear that, pal!" Joey replied. Tea just sighed and shook her head.

"Come on, you guys; let's just go to class."

---

Finally, sixth hour had arrived, Yugi's favorite time of the day. By this time, he would normally be running air runs, but there was really nothing for him to deliver today. In the first fifteen minutes of the period, he had already sorted through brochures that advertised the PSATs, the SATs, the ACTs and the FAFSA. Now Yugi had fifty minutes to do whatever it was that he wanted. He sat at one of the large, thick oak tables that were in the lower half of the library, also known as the advisement center, and took out his notebook. Yugi loved to draw; mostly, he loved to draw mythological creatures. Everything from the loving elves of Norse mythology to the evil Bunyip if Australia. He was in the middle of sketching a howling werewolf at the moment. This was the hour that he loved so much. He would be sad to see it leave come summer.

After relaxing in sixth hour, then suffering through study hall for seventh hour, the day finally came to an end. He, along with Joey, Tristan and Tea were waiting outside the school for Atem to pull up in the car. The other three tried to include Yugi in their conversation, but he put his earplugs into his ears and listened to his iPod instead. Finally, Atem arrived. Yugi always sat in front while the others sat in back. Atem greeted all of them and began to drive back to the game shop.

"So, what did ya wanna do tonight, 'Tem?" Joey asked. Atem shrugged.

"I'm tired of doing the same old thing, I wanna do something different as long as it gets me out of that game shop, I've been there all day and I swear I'm going to lose my mind." The other three all laughed along with Atem while Yugi only rolled his eyes. '_Or what's left of it …_' He thought to himself.

The others continued to talk as Yugi began to stare out of the windshield as if he were in a trance. In reality, he was debating on whether or not to ask Alana to be his girlfriend. '_What if I ask her and she laughs at me?_' He thought sadly. '_Or worse, what if she agrees and then I freak out at the last minute?_'

"That sounds great, what do you think, Yugi?" Tristan said. At hearing his name, Yugi shook his head a little bit to bring himself back to reality.

"Uh … what?"

"We just asked ya if you'd like to go hang with us tonight. We're not really sure where we're goin', but it's gonna be a blast!" Joey said with a lot of enthusiasm in his voice.

"Sorry, but I've got plans." The three in the back all looked at him.

"With who? We're all here." Tea said. Yugi rolled his eyes once again. (_He seems to do that a lot, doesn't he?_)

"Well I'm sorry that I have friends outside the five of us."

"Yugi, that's enough!" Atem snapped. Yugi glared at Atem, a little pissed that he was still giving the younger orders.

"Geez, sorry, Yug'; we just wanna know who you're hangin' with."

"You don't need to know about her." Realizing what he had just said, Yugi cursed himself mentally. Atem's eyes widened, almost to the point where they were going to burst out of his skull.

"'_**HER**_'?!" He asked, sounding very angry. He still could not face the fact that Yugi was dating someone that he did not know. Seeing the Pharaoh's temper rise, Yugi smirked and decided to push more buttons.

"Yeah, we're going out tonight; you know, somewhere you _won't _be." Atem's temper continued to rise, and as it did, he continued to press the gas petal harder and harder. Mentally, the younger roommate was laughing. Yugi was getting more and more kicks out of pissing Atem off the more it happened. The others though, it was not as much fun. Joey looked at him with a smirk on his face and nudged the smaller junior in the arm.

"So, Yug's got a girlfriend, huh? When do we get to meet this mystery chick?" Yugi placed his hand to his chin.

"How about … the Thursday after never. I'll call you the day before to remind you." He replied sarcastically before putting his earphones back in. Both Tristan and Joey groaned.

"Aww, c'mon, man! Why won't you let us meet her?"

"Because she doesn't run with your kind of crowd." Both blond and brunette looked at each other with a '_what is he talking about_' look on their faces.

"What do ya mean '_our kind of crowd_'?" Joey asked, sounding a little offended. Yugi groaned under his breath. He really wished these two would just drop the subject.

"I just mean that I don't think she's someone who you guys would really like and vise versa, okay?" The way Yugi stated that sentence gave Joey and Tristan the sense that they were not going to get anymore information out of him. But that did not mean that Atem was going to give up on him.

"And just who do you think is going to be driving you on this '_date_' of yours?" He asked with a bit of an attitude in his voice. At hearing the word '_date_', Joey and Tristan glanced at each other with smirks and teased Yugi again, which caused the youngest to blush.

"_Oooww!_" They said. This was stupid; he felt like he was still in sixth grade and everyone was teasing him because the new girl gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Shut up! It's not a date!" '_At least not one that you need to know about …_' He thought to himself once again.

"_Yugi's got a girlfriend! Yugi's got a girlfriend!_" The two sang in a teasing manner. Yugi sighed.

"Idiots." He then turned his attention back to Atem. "And as for your question, Grandpa will be taking me, so you don't have to worry about it; just drop me off at home and then he'll take me in the station wagon." Tea turned up her nose.

"You really want your girlfriend to see your grandpa's ugly old station wagon?" Yugi groaned out loud this time.

"She's not my girlfriend!" '_Yet ..._' He thought to himself. "Besides, she doesn't care what kind of car I have; she's not one of those girls." Atem scoffed loudly, making sure that everyone knew his opinion.

"How do you know? She may not be the person she pretends to be around you." Since they were already in the driveway, Yugi unbuckled his seatbelt and rose himself up a bit from the seat.

"**DON'T SAY THAT ABOUT HER!** YOU DON'T KNOW HER LIKE I DO! SO KEEP YOUR FUCKED UP OPINIONS TO YOURSELF!!!!!" Yugi got out of the car and slammed the door shut. The three remaining occupants of the vehicle were all in shock by Yugi's outburst. There was a thick, awkward silence amongst them.

"… So … movie then?" Joey asked. The rest of them all agreed and then drove off.

---

Getting inside the game shop, Yugi slammed that door as well and groaned loudly against it. He hated the way his, now _former_, friends were speaking of Alana. Atem's last statement kept flowing through his mind: '_How do you know? She may not be the person she pretends to be around you_.' Yugi shook his head. Atem was full of shit; he did not know what he was talking about … and most of the time, he really did not.

"Yugi? Is that You?" Yugi took a deep breath to calm himself down.

"Yeah, Grandpa; it's me." Solomon stepped out from the kitchen with a plate and towel in his hand.

"Welcome home; what time did you want to go to the mall?" Yugi set his bag on the floor.

"I don't know; I'll go call her now." He went up the stairs to his room and did not come out for another forty-five minutes.\

---

After those forty-five minutes, Yugi came down wearing a casual outfit; a white denim shirt with tan cargo pants that were a little baggy on him. "I'm ready, Grandpa." Solomon began coughing and waving his hand in the air.

"What's that horrible smell?!" He began to sniff around until he came to Yugi. The old man turned away and held his nose. "Good lord, it's you!"

"What, you think too much cologne?"

"Perhaps a tad … what did you use?"

"I was all out of _Axe_, so I broke into Atem's room and used his _Royal Copenhagen_; you know that stuff that he thinks smells so good … I was desperate!" (_That's the expensive crap that my dad likes._) Solomon continued to wave his arm through the air.

"How much of that junk did you put on?!"

"Practically the whole bottle … do you think it's too much?" Solomon did not let go of his nose.

"I think that if she doesn't faint from the shock of your new look, the smell will definitely set her off." He said playfully.

"Hey!" Solomon chuckled and went to get his keys.

---

They reached Alana's house and Yugi was a little nervous. Half because he was planning to pop the question and half because the scent of the cologne did not go down at all. Swallowing the lump in his throat, the purple-eyed teenager rang the doorbell. Once again, it was answered by Antonio.

"Uh … hi, remember me? I'm"---

"ALLY! YUGI'S HERE AND HE STINKS!" The little boy yelled, running back into the house. Yugi slapped his face with his hand.

"Well. That just didn't work in my favor …" It was not long before Alana appeared at the door, yelling something to her parents in Spanish.

"Sorry I'm late, Yugi; I had a small fight with my mom." Yugi let out a nervous chuckle.

"No big …" The two began walking to the car. "I'm surprised you're not holding your nose … I'm even more surprised that you didn't wanna stay home after what Antonio said." Alana laughed and leaned into Yugi, inhaling deeply.

"I don't mind. What is it?" Yugi blushed; this was not what he expected.

"Uh … _R-Royal Copenhagen_." Alana smiled and inhaled again.

"I think you smell divine." Yugi smiled, his nervousness melting away.

---

Solomon drove both teens to the local mall and gave Yugi a few twenties. "I'll be back at nine o'clock right here." Both teens nodded and waved as Solomon drove off. Alana tucked her hair behind her ear out of nervousness. She wore a purple blouse with a jean skirt and open-toe shoes. She carried a small clothed purse on her right shoulder. She was so beautiful in Yugi's eyes.

"So … what do you want to do first?" Yugi opened his mouth to say something, but his stomach beat him to the punch. Alana laughed, causing Yugi to blush. "I guess we head to the food court first." Yugi nodded in agreement. On the way to the food court, both Alana and Yugi talked about their school lives and what subjects they hated most. "You're an office aide? Wow, you must really hate it." Yugi shook his head.

"No, I love it. It's actually really relaxing. I'm an office aide for Mrs. Davis, she's the secretary for the guidance councilors, and she's like a mother to me. She always has a lunch for me; she tells me what to do, and always wants to know what I'm up to." Alana smiled.

"Wow, I guess that's kinda cool." Finally, they reached the food court. There were so many decisions to choose from. Normally, Yugi would have chosen something with hamburgers, but he wanted something different for a change.

"You know, I think I'm gonna get some '_Charlie's Stakery_'. They have the best subs I've ever tasted." Yugi announced. He looked to Alana to see her licking her lips.

"That sounds good; I think I'll do the same." Both walked over to that counter and ordered the food that they wanted. As they ate, they talked about what kinds of foods that they liked. Alana mentioned that she had had enough Mexican food in her life that she would die happy if she never saw even a taco ever again. Yugi had a good laugh at that statement. Alana laughed when soda almost came out of Yugi's nose, who had started to laugh at her laughing at him.

---

After they left the food court, they went to a few stores that both of them liked. They went to the book store, a gaming store, bought some ice cream, threw some pennies in the fountain and went to a few clothing stores, which Alana dragged her date to. Both were having a very good time until the most annoying voice, in Yugi's mind, called his name.

"Yugi!" Yugi cringed at hearing his roommate's voice.

"Oh shit …!"

---

_End of Chapter_


	4. Calm Before the Storm

_You know, even after being admitted to the hospital for about a week before I went on vacation and then finding out that I have cancer and high cholesterole, I'm actually pretty happy. Since we caught the cancer early enough, we're able to treat it before it gets too bad and they told me that **hopefully** after a few years of kemo, I'll be better. As for the cholesterole, all I have to do is lose weight, which won't be too hard since I've already lost 20 lbs since the beginning of the year, and about a week ago I found out I lost about another nine, so I think I'll be okay. Anyway, someone told me that Atem was_ 'acting a little gay'_, as she put it; okay, let me clear that up: the only reason Atem doesn't want Yugi dating anyone is because he wants to keep Yugi ... as a little kid in hid own mind; he doesn't want him to grow up and be dependent on someone else, let alone himself. That, and he feels threatened that someone is replacing him as Yugi's_ go-to person_', for lack of a better term, the person he talks about about everything to. Does that paint a better picture? That's the only reason he's acting the way he is, dispite what he says. He's just being jelous and is really scared of change. Okay, so here's the part Yugi's been dreading all along ... where the lightning meets the thunder ... well, you get the idea ..._

---

This was it … he was finally caught with not way out this time. Yugi held his breath, hoping that if he did just long enough then this would all turn out to be a dream. However, when a hand slapped him playfully on the back, that thought was quickly dismissed.

"Hey, fancy seein' you here, pal." Joey said. Yugi smiled, but cringed as well. He let out a nervous chuckle.

"Heh, heh … yeah … go fig' …" He said. Alana looked at her date with a confused look.

"Yugi, who are these people?" She asked. Yugi let out a long, agitated sigh.

"Okay, Alana, the guys; guys, Alana." Yugi introduced. Tea exhaled lightly, placing her hands on her hips.

"Yugi, I think she's gonna need a little bit more then that." The smallest boy did not respond. Tea smiled at the other girl. "Hi, I'm Tea; this is Joey," Joey made a salute to Alana.

"'Sup?" Alana smiled before Tea continued.

"This is Tristan,"

"Hi, how are you?" The Hispanic girl smiled again and shook his hand.

"And this is Atem." Alana turned her smiling gaze over to the last of the group, but her smile faded when she saw the glare that was given to her.

"Pleasure …" He said, not really sounding as if he meant if. '_This must be Yugi's roommate._' Alana thought to herself. Still feeling that intense glare being drilled into her, Alana decided that it was her turn to say something.

"It's very nice to meet you all …" Yugi, sensing Alana's discomfort, was about to suggest that the two of them leave at once, but Joey spoke up first.

"Hey, cool accent; where ya from, Mexico?" Alana let out a nervous chuckle.

"Heh, heh … close; Los Angeles." Tristan and Joey both seemed amused by this new information.

"Wow, did you live in Hollywood?" Joey asked. Before Alana could answer, Tristan chimed in with another question.

"Did you ever meet any movie stars?" She was about to answer again when Joey continued the questioning.

"If ya did, could you maybe hook us up with one?" Yugi slapped his face with his hand; it was the most embarrassing moment of his life.

"Hey, Lucy, Ethel, knock off the questions, will ya?!" He yelled more then asked.

"Geez, sorry, Yugi; we just never met anyone from LA before." Joey replied. Tristan nodded. Yugi was about to insult them again when he heard Tea laughing.

"Don't mind them; I swear, they're completely harmless." Alana chuckled nervously, still trying to get away from the glare that Atem was still giving her.

"Well, now that that's over and done with, if you guys will excuse us, we'll just be" ---

"No, wait, Yug'; why don't you guys hang out with us? We're gonna go see another movie." At hearing this, Atem turned his glare over to Joey.

"Haven't you guys already seen two movies this week?" Yugi asked. Joey shrugged.

"Well yeah, but since my baby sis works there now, I get to use her free tickets as much as I want, so c'mon; my treat." Before Yugi could refuse, Alana answered for him.

"That would be great, thank you!" Joey winked at her.

"No problemo! Now let's go pick one out before all the good snacks are sold!" Joey led the way as Tea and Tristan followed him. Atem continued to glare at Alana with his arms folded for a few more seconds before he slowly went to join them. After they were a little bit away from them, Alana let out a sigh and was about to follow when Yugi grabbed her arm.

"We don't have to go with them if you don't want to." Alana smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Yugi, it's okay … I want to get to know those who know you the best; and besides, who can say '_no_' to a free movie?" She added with a giggle. Yugi bit his lip in nervousness.

"But they're different from you and me … they're kinda … I don't know, weird."

"How about I be the judge of that?" Yugi sighed and gave up.

"Alright, but before we go, can I ask you a question?" Alana smiled and nodded. The rose blush on Yugi's cheeks began to increase as he took the Hispanic girl's hands in his own. "You know Alana, these past few days with you have been the best of my entire life. Believe it or not, before I met you, I was a little bit depressed." Alana let out a disbelief laugh.

"You, Yugi Moto, the greatest game player in the world, was depressed?" Yugi's blushed increased again and he shrugged.

"Well, the greatest game player in the world isn't me, it's Atem. But getting back to the point," Yugi got down on one knee, never releasing his grip on the girl's hands. Alana gasped, "Alana Martinez, will you be my girlfriend?" Alana smiled, tears of joy filling up in her eyes. She continued to look at him like this for a few minutes, while Yugi's position became a bit uncomfortable. "Ally, I need an answer like, now 'cause this is really getting painful."

"Oh, sorry; yes, of course I'll be your girlfriend." Yugi smiled and gave his new girlfriend the biggest hug and kiss of their new relationship. They continued to kiss for a few seconds and then just stood in each other's embrace.

"We better get going before they come looking for us." Alana agreed and the two walked to the cinema, holding hands.

There was a pretty long line forming at the ticket box but luckily, Joey's little sister, Serenity, was an employee at this particular cinema, so she called for a manager and asked for six tickets; the tickets were free, however the snacks would have to be paid for. "So, what do we wanna see?" Joey asked.

"That's a good question …" Tristan added. Atem just stood there with his arms folded, trying not to look at his roommate holding hands with his new girlfriend.

"As long as it's not a chick-flick, I don't care." He said in perhaps the most monotone voice he had ever used.

"How about '_Fantastic Four_'? I hear it's pretty good." Tea said. The rest of them all agreed. It really did not matter to Yugi what movie they saw, as long as it was dark enough for him and Alana to start making out. Alana snuggled closer to him as they waited in line for snacks. Yugi wrapped his arm around her and smiled.

---

Still trying not to look at the lovey-dovey couple, but did anyway, Atem could not help but see the happy look on Yugi's face, one that had not been there for the longest time. But why did he have to start dating? Why could he not just stay the little boy who had always needed him and came to him whenever he needed comforting? Atem hated the idea of being replaced by a tiny little girl from a heritage that he had never heard of before. He had always been the one who had taken care of Yugi, even before the small boy knew of the ancient one's existence. Just the thought that that this girl could replace him so easily made Atem's blood boil more then any villain ever could. He tried with all his might to hide his anger, but he did not know just how long he would be able to.

The action parts of the movie were pretty loud and had the attention of almost everyone in the theater, including Atem. (_Haven't seen the movie yet, but with it being made by Marvel, I'm guessing it has a lot of action scenes_.) Alana had grabbed Yugi's hand a few times. Yugi had gotten a bucket of popcorn while Alana got a box of Sno Caps ®, but she seemed to prefer Yugi's popcorn. They both shared a drink, with two straws, of course.

However, after a while, they began to make out. This was the first time for both of them. Yugi liked it, a lot. He loved allowing his fingers to flow through Alana's full, silky black hair. And he could tell that she loved doing the same thing to him. Even though his hair was filled with gel, she was still able to find the soft spots in it. Yugi loved feeling her long nails graze his scalp. It sent shivers down his spine. Surprising him, she became a bit more daring and licked his bottom lip. Yugi gasped and Alana took that time to force her tongue into his mouth. Yugi moaned, loving the feeling and pushed her tongue out and his own into her mouth. After a few minutes, they pulled away.

"Wow; that was really good." Yugi said with a small dazed tone. Alana smiled.

"I liked it too." Someone in the theater shushed them and they decided to watch the rest of the movie.

Afterwards …

"That was such a good movie! I can't wait for it to come out on video!" Tristan announced. Tea let out a dreamy sigh.

"Yeah, and wasn't Johnny hot? Even hotter with his fire powers!" She said.

"You think all guys in _Marvel ®_ movies are hot." Joey said. Tea shrugged and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Well, they always pick the hottest actors." Yugi and Alana had gone to do something together, so they were not with the others anymore.

"So, what did you guys think of Alana?" Tristan asked. Tea smiled.

"I liked her!" She said. Joey smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, I did too; she seems perfect for Yug'." Tristan had to agree with his friends.

"Yeah, me too!" They all looked at Atem, who stood with his arms folded and glared at nothing in particular.

"I do not like her."

"HUH?!" The other three all exclaimed in unison.

"She's pulling Yugi away from us and we know absolutely nothing about her!"

"But isn't that the way Yugi wanted it?" Tristan asked. Atem exhaled loudly.

"She's the reason why Yugi doesn't want to be near us anymore! She had brainwashed him into being rebellious against me!"

"Maybe it's just because he's growing up, ever think of that?" Joey asked with a bit of sarcasm.

"He does not need to grow up! At least not this fast! He's cutting his childhood too short; you all are!" Joey, Tea and Tristan all looked at him with offence.

"Well excuse us for beginning our own lives, Atem; Yugi's doing the same thing. Pretty soon, we're all going to go our separate ways, I guess Yugi just beat us to it." Tea said. Atem grumbled, nor really wanting to hear that.

"Tea's right; and besides, do you not like Alana just because it's Yugi that's going out with her?" Tristan asked. Atem continued to pout with his arms folded. Joey snapped his fingers.

"Ah-ha! So it's true! Why don't you want Yug' goin' out with her?"

"… Because!"

"'_Because_'?! That's your answer?!" Tea exclaimed. "'_Because_' why?" Atem started shifting from foot to foot, looking as if he had to use the restroom.

"None of you would understand; now, if you would all accompany me to the car, I just want to go home now." The three friends looked at each other, expecting one of the others to have the answer, but all three of them shrugged and followed the oldest.

---

Meanwhile, Yugi and Alana were still having a good time with each other. They were walking towards Alana's house, laughing about what parts of the movie that they actually saw. They also chatted about non-important things, just things that the two of them would understand. Yugi's arm was around Alana's waist and she moved in as close to him as she could, loving the warmth he gave off. It was a bit cool outside so Yugi gave her his jacket-shirt to wear. Finally, the two reached Alana's house.

"I had a great time tonight, Yugi; even spending time with those friends of yours." Yugi rolled his eyes.

"It's okay to say you didn't like them." Alana's gaze lowered to the ground.

"Well, I did like them, but I got the feeling that your roommate didn't like me very much …" Yugi let out a grunt.

"Well, he just has to get used to you. Now that you've met them, how about you come to dinner at my house on Saturday. I'm a really good cook and Grandpa will be there, so you won't have to suffer being alone with Atem."

"Sure, I'd love to; but on Sunday, you have to suffer a dinner at my house."

"Okay, but I don't speak that much Spanish." Alana waved her hand in his face.

"Don't worry, we only speak Spanish when it's just us; around other people, we speak English, but my mother is still learning." Yugi laughed.

"Sure, it's a deal." The two moved in to kiss. This was not a passionate make-out kiss like the one they had in the theater, but a smooth, pleasurable kiss that was enough to satisfy both high school juniors. They pulled away after a few seconds.

"Good night, Yugi."

"Night, Alana." Alana entered her house and Yugi made his way to his own home, daydreaming along the way. He was lucky that when he got home, both of his housemates were already asleep. He would pay for coming home late in the morning with a lecture from Grandpa, but for now, he was enjoying the pleasant feeling he had at this time, and he was looking forward to his dinner with Alana next Saturday.

---

End of Chapter


	5. Sharing a Moment

_Okay, I know that this is not the story that everyone wants me to update, but too bad. I've had this idea in my head and I need to put it down. I'm in typing class right now, so I have the time. Anyway, I know that his story seems boring and slow so far, and this chapter may be a bit boring, but I guarentee that there's a twist near the end that youy probably did not see coming!_

---

Yugi was so nervous. He had never been more nervous about anything in his life, not even his job interview with Banana. This was ridiculous, the more nervous he was, the more he sweat; and the more he sweat, the dirtier he was.

Around mid-afternoon, he took the longest shower of his life. He must have scrubbed his body seven times and washed his hair ten times. After that, he went over to his closet and tried to pick out the, quote, '_most perfect outfit_'. Yugi changed outfits five times, deciding that each one he tried on was not good enough. Finally, he settled on a light-blue sweater-vest with a white dress shirt underneath, black linen pants, and a pair of loafers, since he was just staying home.

"Well, how do I look?" He asked Atem, who was watching Yugi while sitting on his bed. He watched Yugi go from one outfit, and each time he asked 'how do I look', but he never gave Atem time to answer because he automatically decided that it was no good. But finally, Atem was given the chance to answer Yugi's repeated question. He looked his light up and down.

"You look like you belong in the glee club." He replied. Yugi rolled his eyes and proceeded with fixing his hair.

Atem was a little ticked at this time. Not only did Yugi force him to take a shower, which the dark one had taken earlier, but he decided on what Atem could and could not wear. Before focusing on himself, Yugi went into Atem's closet to check to see if Atem had anything nice to wear. He threw out so many leather items that he swore he could fill the men's one* room at work. Atem tried to fight it at first, but at seeing at how determined Yugi was, he stopped. Finally, Yugi found something. He forced Atem to wear a black dress shirt, black wool slacks, and a red tie. Atem could not believe that he had to dress so uncomfortably in his own home.

"Why is this so important anyway, Yugi?" He knew the real answer, Yugi really liked this girl. But he was going to play dumb for as long as he could.

"Because, I want things to go well. I really like Alana," He turned around and pointed a finger at his darker half, "and if you do or say anything to screw this up, I'll never forgive you!" Atem held his hands up in surrender. He may not have liked this plan, but there was nothing he could do to change it.

Yugi went back to fixing his hair. He slathered it with gel and used a comb to make the spikes, and his bangs, fall back. Atem hated it when Yugi did this. It was like he was insulted by his natural look.

"I don't understand why you do such horrid things to your hair for this girl. You should like the way you naturally look. You're unique."

"Well, I just thought that it was time for a change. And besides, don't you hate getting mixed up with me all the time?"

"Not really, no." That figures. Atem loved himself and was quite famous. It irked Yugi to no end.

"Well I am, and this way, I can be my own person." Atem was feeling a bit insulted by this time.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that with my hair pulled back, we don't look that much alike anymore, so no one will mistake me for you, and then I won't have to hear that disappointed '_oh, it's you_', all the time." Atem sighed and walked up to his light. Yugi was fully prepared to verbally bash Atem if he had to, but what Atem did surprised him. He straightened Yugi's sweater-vest and brushed off the extra lint on his shoulder.

"You were always unique to me, Yugi. I never thought of you as just another face in the crowd." After saying that, Atem left the room. That was a bit of a dramatic moment, and for a second, Yugi felt a ping of guilt for the way he had been treating him lately, but only for a second.

An hour later, Yugi kept looking out the window. Any car that passed by the game shop had potential to be Alana. Atem was in the kitchen, helping Grandpa make dinner. He looked over at Yugi, who seemed like a little kid waiting for the ice cream truck to come around.

"Yugi, ever hear of the expression 'a watched pot never comes'?" Wait, there was something wrong with that …

"Ever hear of the expression 'mind your own beeswax'?" Yugi replied, not even bothering to look back at Atem. The ex-Pharaoh knew that Yugi was looking for a fight with him, so he went in the other direction.

"I have, actually. And I don't quite understand. How can bees have wax?" Yugi ignored him. He just kept staring out the window. Atem sighed and went back to help Grandpa with dinner. It was a few more minutes before Yugi screamed:

"SHE'S HERE!" Yugi raced to the door and checked his hair one more time. He waited for Alana to ring the bell so as not to make himself seem so desperate.

_Ding dong_

Yugi opened the door, planning on saying '_hi, Alana_', but that changed the moment he saw her. She was so beautiful. Alana wore a lavender sun dress with a white jacket over it, purple and purple flats to match the dress. Her hair had been straightened and still hung in her face, but it seemed shinier than usual. Her make up blended in with her naturally tan skin so well that one would assume that she was not wearing any at all. She had a small letter '_A_' pendent around her neck. Yugi could have sworn he was literally drooling.

After a moment of Yugi's silence and lack of motion, Alana decided to break it.

"Um … hi, Yugi." Yugi tried to form the word '_hi_' in his mouth, he really did, but he was so stunned by the beauty in front of him that he could not get his dry throat to form words.

"Uh … uh …" It was a good thing that Solomon intervened when he did. He stepped between the couple and laughed.

"Yugi, don't be rude, invite your lady in." Yugi blushed. That was very embarrassing to him. Solomon laughed again. "Come on in, my dear." Alana thanked him and stepped inside their house. The elder took the girl's white jacket and hung it up while Yugi escorted her to the den.

"So, how have you been?" He asked.

"Just as fine as when we texted each other this morning." Yugi blushed again.

"Oh, right." Alana giggled at him.

"Oh boy, good thing you're cute." Yugi's blush continued to grow, and even more some when she gave him a peck on the cheek. As red as Yugi's cheeks were, he was very happy. He took her hand and led her into the designated room.

Once inside the den, Yugi spotted Atem sitting in the middle of the couch with his arms and legs crossed and a scowl on his face. Yugi gave him a warning glare before he introduced him.

"Ally, you remember my roommate, don't you?" Atem's scowl seemed to get darker, which freaked Alana out. She refused to come out from behind Yugi.

"Oh, yeah … um … hi, … Yugi's roommate …" Atem continued to stare at her with an annoyed glare on his face. But suddenly his scorn turned into a creepy smile, obviously forced.

"It's Atem."

"Oh, right …" Without saying anything else, Atem walked into the kitchen. Yugi rolled his eyes. He turned to face Alana when he felt her tugging on his shirt sleeve.

"See, I told you he didn't like me!" Yugi shrugged.

"Don't pay any attention to him." Yugi took Alana's hand to escort her into the kitchen. When she took a step, however, there was a loud:

"REOWR!" The couple looked down to see that Alana had stepped on a cat's tail.

"Oh, I forgot." Yugi said, bending down to pick the cat up. She was still making a pained sound.

"Ally, this is my cat, Ezzy." Alana smiled.

"Sorry I stepped on your tail, Ezzy." She was not sure if she should pet the cat. She looked at Yugi, who gave her a nod of encouragement. But as soon as her hand touched the cat's head, the feline hissed loudly at the girl, causing her to withdraw her hand. Alana gasped as she did. Yugi tapped Ezzy on the nose.

"Ezzy, no no! Bad girl!" The cat was clearly getting annoyed and she wanted down. Yugi could tell this by the way she was squirming in his arms. So he let her go.

"So much for a first impression." Yugi smiled.

"Don't worry, she hates everyone at first; 'matter of fact, she still hasn't gotten used to Atem." Alana stared at her boyfriend.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Yugi thought for a second. Actually, it was, but as he thought of it, it really did sound bad.

"Um … well, I guess not …" Alana chuckled and gave Yugi another kiss on the cheek.

"It's okay. As long as your grandfather likes me."

"Oh yeah! He thinks you're the best thing that ever happened to me!" Alana giggled again.

"Well that's good to hear." Yugi pulled her into a loving embrace. They had that warm, fuzzy feeling passing through them as they hugged. However, the moment was interrupted by Atem.

"Hey," The couple looked at him, surprised, "quit making the rest of us sick and get in here, the food's ready!" He disappeared back into the kitchen.

"What's up with him?" Alana asked. Atem was really starting to get on her nerves.

"Oh, he just can't let go …" Yugi replied. It seemed as if he was thinking out loud more than anything.

"What?"

"Nothing; come on, let's eat."

---

During dinner, Alana talked about herself after Solomon had asked. She talked about how she was from Los Angeles and how she had traveled all over the world since her father was in the military. She told them about how her mother could only speak a little bit of English, how demanding her father was, and how annoying her little brother was. This was all information that Yugi already knew, but he was happy to hear it again. She told little things about herself too, like what her favorite color was,

When they were seated, Atem deliberately sat in between Yugi and Alana. Yugi glared at him, but Atem continued to play dumb. When it came time to pass around the food, Atem took two large scoops of potatoes, three scoops of green beans, and hogged the two chicken legs for himself. Yugi rolled his eyes. There was no way he was going to eat all that, he just wanted to be as rude as he could get away with. The same happened with dessert. Atem took the whole apple pie for himself.

Once dinner was over, and since Atem ate their dessert, Yugi and Alana walked to a small ice cream stand not too far from the game shop. They talked about all kinds of things. Small things, large things, and random things. They laughed a few times along the way. Yugi ordered vanilla ice cream while Alana ordered chocolate. Alana's ice cream cone came out fine, but Yugi's was all messy and drippy. Alana tried to help him clean up and in the end they both ended up with vanilla ice cream all over themselves. They had a good laugh about that.

It was getting late, so Yugi decided to walk Alana to her house. It was not that far from the game shop and it was a pretty safe neighborhood, so Yugi had no worries about being abducted on the way home. Once they were on the porch of the Martinez residence, Yugi got nervous because he knew that Alana would want a kiss. He had no idea why he was so nervous, they had kissed before.

"So, I guess this is good night."

"I guess so." A moment of silence passed by them once again. Yugi found his shoes very interesting at this point. "Don't forget that you're coming over to my house for dinner tomorrow night."

"Oh, right!" Darn it, why did he have to wear his best outfit tonight?! More silence passed. Finally, Alana became impatient and took the moment into her own hands.

"Oh for God's sake, come here!" She took Yugi by his shirt collar and pulled him into a kiss. Surprised at first, Yugi gasped, which gave Alana the opportunity to explore his mouth. Feeling the foreign organ play with his own, Yugi relaxed and moaned. Everything came naturally to him after that point. They kissed for a few more seconds before the front door to the house flew open. A little boy appeared in the doorway.

"Antonio!" Alana yelled, angrily. Antonio pointed at Yugi.

"You kissed my sister! EEEEWWW!" The little boy yelled while laughing. Alana yelled something in Spanish before chasing Antonio inside.

"I'm so sorry about that, Yugi." Yugi shrugged.

"It's okay. I think he's getting used to me." Alana giggled.

"Well, I better get inside before he sends my father out here." Yugi paled.

"H-he'd do that?" Alana nodded.

"Don't worry, He's not that bad." They kissed one more time before Alana went into her house. Yugi could hear yelling between his girlfriend and her younger brother in Spanish.

---

Yugi's walk back to the game shop was pretty peaceful. He took a few moments to take a walk around the park. He liked going to the park on a night like this. The stars were sparkling, the air felt crisp and clean, and it was quiet. Yugi took in a deep breath, just to enjoy the moment. He was happy for the first time in a long time. For a few more moments, Yugi looked out at the lake in the park before he went home. He must have lost track of time because when he got home, Atem gave him an interrogation.

"Where the hell were you?!" The ancient one had already changed from his nice clothes to his pajama pants. He never wore a shirt to bed so his chest was bare.

"I went out for a walk." Yugi walked past him and into the kitchen to get something to drink.

"For an hour?!" Yugi glared at him. This overprotective streak of his was getting out of control.

"I was just in the park, calm down!"

"How am I supposed to calm down when something could have happened to you?!"

"What's the big deal? I'm home, and I'm safe; lighten up!" Yugi tried to walk past him to get to his room, but Atem followed.

"The big deal is that I had no idea where you were for the last hour! You were supposed to walk the girl to her house, and then come right back home why didn't you check in with me?!"

"**BECAUSE**!" Both light and dark stared at each other, Atem with shock and Yugi with anger. "I didn't check in with you because, despite what you think, you are _**NOT**_ my father!" Atem quickly recovered from his shock at this point.

"I realize that, but"---

"Then Stop treating me like a little baby!" Atem did not get a chance to reply because Yugi slammed his bedroom door in his dark's face. Atem stood there in complete stupor. He did not treat Yugi like a baby … did he? He tried to open the door only to find that it was locked. Sighing in defeat, he gave up and went to his own room.

Yugi was pouting on his bed. He really was sick and tired of Atem's overprotectivness. Yugi had his grandfather to take care of him. He did not need Atem anymore. The difference was that his grandfather knew when to let go. Yugi had decided long ago that if Atem would not learn to let him go, than Yugi was just going to have to teach him how. He half expected to have Atem invade his room after that outburst, but to his surprise, the older did not. Perhaps that was a good thing.

"Stupid Pharaoh …" A knock came at the door.

"I don't want to talk to you, Yami."

"It's me, Yugi." That voice was not Atem's, it was Grandpa's. So Yugi unlocked the door and let him in.

"What's up, Grandpa?"

"What was all that yelling about?" Yugi sighed.

"Oh that, that was just Yami giving me his interrogation techniques." Solomon stepped into his grandson's room while Yugi sat on his bed.

"He just wants to make sure you're safe." Yugi scoffed.

"Yeah, I know, but he's being way too overprotective." Solomon shrugged.

"Well, can you blame him?" Yugi raised a brow.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that it's not a very safe world out there, and considering all that you two have gone through together, it's only natural that he would want to protect you." Yugi sighed. He had heard this too many times.

"Yeah, but he still sees me as that little boy that first touched his puzzle. He needs to let me grow up." Solomon chuckled.

"He's just suffering from empty nest syndrome."

"What's that?"

"It's when a parent has a hard time letting their child go and must find something to take care of."

"Okay, first of all, I'm right here. And second of all, he's not my parent."

"No, but he probably feels like he is." Yugi sighed. As much as Atem got on his nerves, he was starting to feel guilty for yelling at him.

"So what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that you have every right as a teenager to rebel, but Atem also has the right to worry about you as well." That compromise made sense. Yugi got up to go talk to Atem. He walked across the hall and knocked on the door that used to be the guest room.

"Come in." He heard the calm voice that belonged to his dark. Taking another deep breath, Yugi entered his dark's room. Atem was lying on his bed, reading a book. He placed the book on the night stand to give Yugi his full attention. "Yugi?" Yugi stood in front of Atem and fiddled with his fingers. God, this was hard. Now he knew why Seto Kaiba refused to ever admit that he was wrong.

"Um … I just … I just …" Atem watched Yugi with a calm atmosphere.

"You just …?" Yugi sighed.

"I just came in to say …" he mumbled his words.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you."

"I said I'm sorry." Atem folded his arms in a way that looked like he was trying to teach something to Yugi.

"Sorry for what?" Yugi groaned. Atem was loving this moment and he knew it.

"Sorry for yelling at you earlier." Yugi cringed as he said this. Atem, however, did not seem to really notice. Either that or he just did not care.

"And why are you sorry for that?" Yugi sighed. Just like Atem to drag something out.

"I talked to Grandpa, and I guess I can understand why you worry the way that you do." Atem nodded.

"Alright then." With that, he picked up his book and began to read again. Yugi was a little disappointed. He was expecting a little more from the dark one.

"So … are we good?" Atem nodded without looking up at Yugi. "Okay … uh … good night …"

"Night." That was all that was said between the two.

---

The next day, Yugi was so nervous about his dinner at Alana's house that he started getting ready as soon as he woke up. He dug around in his closet to see if he had a better outfit than the one he had on the previous night. Alana had told him to just be casual. So he settled with a white dress shirt and a baby blue tie.

The night started out alright as soon as Yugi was able to get past Alana's father. He seemed to be just as over protective of his daughter as Atem was of Yugi. After a few questions, just to make sure that his daughter had chosen well, Col. Martinez smiled and announced that he liked 'this boy'. Mrs. Martinez was not as intimidating, but Alana had to translate everything that was said between the too. Antonio kept asking questions, but not like the questions he received from Col. Martinez, these were elementary questions such as: '_how old are you?_', '_how much do you love my sister?_', '_are you scared you're gonna get my sister's coodies?_' and Yugi's personal favorite, 'what do you do with your boogers?' Antonio then stuck his finger into his nose, at which point, Mrs. Martinez yelled at him in Spanish and escorted him into the kitchen. Alana had a look of embarrassment on her face most of the night after that. Antonio teased Yugi through out the evening; he poured Yugi's drink in his lap, spat in his dessert stuck gum in his hair, and gave him a Wet Willy. At the end of the evening, Yugi found that he actually had fun that night. He even got revenge on Antonio by eating his reserved piece of pie.

Of course, when he got home, he had to give Atem absolutely every detail. From what they ate to what the talked about. Ever since their, or rather Yugi's, 'talk', Atem had gotten a little worse with his overprotectivness. That morning he actually woke Yugi up at eleven o'clock just because he figured Yugi was sleeping too late and wanted to make sure he was alive. One more year and hopefully, Yugi would be off to college. However, if he did not pass his physics test in this upcoming week, that would probably not happen.

So, on Wednesday of the following week, Yugi had invited Alana over to his house in order to study, since he knew that she had already had physics and had passed with flying colors. This was a good time for her to come over since Atem was at the movies with the others.

Tea had said that she wanted to get to know Alana better and had invited the two of them, and Yugi almost accepted, but Alana declined and told her about his test. Joey and Tristan laughed at him for being, as they said, 'whipped'. It did not bother him as much as he thought it would be. He guessed it was because he was actually happy. Anyway, here he was, sitting in the living room with his girlfriend … alone for the night … and they were actually studying.

"Come on, Yugi; you know this. What is the formula for average velocity?" Yugi reached for a chip from the dish that lay out in front of them on the coffee table, but Alana slapped his hand away before he could reach it.

"Hey!"

"Stay focused! Now, what's the formula?" Yugi sighed. He hated physics. If he did not need four credits of science in order to get into a university, he would not have even bothered to enroll in the seemingly useless class.

"Uh … okay …" He had that look in his eye that told Alana that he was really thinking hard. "Um … is it …(v + u)/2?" Alana smiled.

"Correct."

"Yes!" Yugi cheered.

"Okay, now how did you come up with that answer?" Yugi looked at her.

"I already got the answer to the question right, what more do you want from me, woman?!"

"Look, your teacher is going to ask how you came up with your answer and you need to know it!" Yugi glared at his girlfriend.

"How do you know what my teacher's gonna ask?" Alana rolled her eyes, but the action did not seem to be directed at Yugi.

"Teachers always ask you to show your work. It's like an unwritten law to them." Yugi sighed. He looked to the coffee table only to see that their snack was gone.

"Hey, you ate all the chips!"

"Sorry, but they were good." Yugi stared at her, but then started laughing. Alana could not see what he was laughing at, but still laughed along with him. Soon, they had forgotten all about studying and just sat there, laughing. Yugi's laughing faded but his smile stayed on his face, as did Alana's.

As he looked at her, he decided to take advantage of the fact that they were alone. So he leaned in and kissed her. Alana answered by kissing back. Yugi honestly did not intend for the kiss to turn into anything passionate, but Alana licked his bottom lip, and he tried to respond with words, but that was when she plunged her tongue into his mouth. Yugi decided to just go with it. It was good … really good. And as long as it did not get any further, he was good.

However, he never noticed when Alana had pushed him down onto the couch and climbed on top of him. If he had, he probably could have prevented the following events. Yugi had gotten lost in the feelings. Alana had slipped her hands under his shirt and began to caress his chest. Yugi moaned, which just encouraged his girlfriend to continue her actions.

Alana had reached the top of Yugi's pants and began to unbutton them, whispering his name. That just had to be the day that she chose to wear a skirt. By pure instinct and nothing else, she pulled down his pants, along with his boxers. Yugi's hands began to travel up and down Alana's sides. His mind must have zoned out for a few moments because the next thing that happened, and neither could remember how, Alana's panties had ended up on the floor. Alana moved over Yugi's awaiting erection, moaning as she did. They kept kissing as this happened. Yugi hardly did anything. All he did was roll his hips, which caused Alana to gasp in pleasure. This continued for a while. It was slow and smooth. Finally, Yugi released inside of Alana, who ended up collapsing on top of him.

It took a while for them both to recover. Once they did, both looked at each other with wide eyes. Yugi looked at the position that they were in.

"D-Did we just …?"

"I think we did." To test this theory, Yugi rolled his hips, which caused a sudden giggle from Alana.

"Stop, that tickles!"

"Yeah, we definitely had sex …" It was a little awkward for a moment while Alana got off of Yugi and both redressed.

"Um … I think I better go home …"

"Yeah, I think you should too …" Both stood up, looking at each other. "Um … d-do you w-want a kiss?"

"No, I think I'm good. See ya later …"

"Yeah, bye …" And with that, Alana left.

Yugi's knees failed and he fell to the couch with his head in his hands. He could not believe he had just had sex with Alana. He could tell that it was the first time for the both of them by the way Alana acted. '_Man, oh man …_' He always made fun of Atem because of all the times he had sex, and Yugi was disgusted by it, and now he did the very thing he despised about his dark. "God, I hope that doesn't come back and bite me in the ass …"

Suddenly, he heard a loud musical tone. "Ahh!" He jumped in surprise but let out a sigh of relief to learn that it was just his cell phone. He checked the caller ID to see who it was. If it was Alana, he was probably going to ignore her, at least for right now. Luckily, it had turned out to be Atem. Another sigh of relief was let out.

"Hello?"

'_Yugi …_'

"Oh, hey, Yami. How was the movie?"

'_It sucked. You're lucky you missed it._' Yugi chuckled. 'Listen, we're going to get some ice cream, do you want any?'

"Y-yeah, sure …"

'_Are you alright? You sound a bit … off._' Yugi gulped. Keeping his actions a secret from Atem was not going to be easy. If Atem ever found out what he had done, he would never stop treating Yugi like a baby.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I … just thought I heard something, but it turned out to be nothing, so it's cool." That excuse was a little too long, and Atem knew it. But, he did not push the subject as Yugi thought that he would do.

'_Well, if you say so; I'll just get you your usual, alright?_'

"Okay, thanks; bye!" Yugi quickly hung up. He needed to get a grip. If he was this nervous talking to his dark over the phone, how was he going to act when he saw the dark one face to face? Not to mention the fact that he was the world's worst liar. All of a sudden, Yugi felt like he needed to take a shower.

After his shower, Yugi felt much better, but not good. He changed into a new pair of clothes and plopped down on his bed. For a second, he actually had forgotten about the incident, when a knock came at the door.

"Ahh!" He jumped in surprise. Without waiting for a response, the door opened to reveal Atem with a concerned look on his face.

"Yugi, are you alright?" Yugi gave his roommate a nervous laugh.

"Y-yeah, n-never felt better!" Atem glared in disbelief.

"Then why are you stuttering?" Yugi walked quickly over to the door.

"Am I? Oh, it must just be because I'm tired, it is late, after all. Is this my ice cream thanks, Yami, g'night!" He ranted before slamming the door in Atem's face. Yugi put the ice cream down on his desk and fell onto his mattress once again. The boy could feel Atem trying to pry his way into his mind, but Yugi increased his defenses. Once Atem left him alone, Yugi finally decided to get some sleep.

---

The next week flew by. On Tuesday, Yugi tried calling Alana to see if she was alright, but she did not answer. To make matters worse, he was continuously nervous around Atem and his grandfather. Yugi could tell that his darker half was getting worried, but Yugi refused to confine in him.

He tried to call Alana again on Wednesday, but when she still did not answer, he decided to give her a rest for the next few days. Joey asked where he had been hiding his girlfriend and Yugi snapped, saying that it was none of his business. He did not hang around them much for the next few days. Each night, Atem would ask him what was wrong and Yugi would tell him nothing. The two had gotten into an argument, Atem saying that Yugi never talked to him anymore, and Yugi saying that Atem worried too much. For the next seventy-two hours, they avoided each other.

After the next weekend, Yugi once again had tried to call Alana, but she still refused to answer the phone. Yugi had left her at least thirty messages on Monday, telling her that they needed to talk and to call him back. He called every hour, on the hour but never received an answer. On Wednesday night, he walked over to her house, but no one was home. He was starting to think that Alana did not like him anymore. Each message he left said that they needed to talk. He texted her and left voice mails on both her cell and house phones.

On the next Saturday, the gang had asked if Yugi wanted to go to the mall with them, but Yugi told them he was busy. That was when the real argument started.

"Man, what da hell's wrong wichoo?" Joey yelled, exaggerating on his accent. "Eva since ya been datin' that chick, we've hardly seen ya!"

"You don't know what you're talking about, Wheeler!" Joey and the others were taken aback. Yugi only ever called someone by their last names when he was really pissed. "I'll have you know that I haven't even seen her in two weeks!"

"Then why don't you come hang out with us?" Tristan asked.

"For one thing, I actually have a job; maybe the rest of you should find out what that feels like!"

"Alright, dat's it! Dis damn braid has bewitched ya, or sum'm, Yugi'!"

"Joey, you are such an idiot!" Yugi had never gotten verbally abusive before and no one really knew how to respond.

"Alright, Yugi; that's enough." Atem said in a warning tone.

"No, I'm sick and tired of you telling me what to do!" Atem slapped his hand against his head.

"Oh, not this again … I feel like we're having the same argument over and over again!"

"Well I"--- Yugi did not get to finish because the doorbell rang. He glared at his darker half. "To be continued." He walked over to the door to find that it was the person he had been trying to reach for the past two weeks.

"Alana!" Alana had a sad look on her face.

"Yugi …" Yugi escorted her into the house and into the den. "Yugi, could we talk … alone?" Joey stepped in front of Yugi.

"Hey, anything you got ta say, you can say in front 'a us." Yugi groaned and pushed Joey aside. He could tell that Alana really was upset. Tears were in her eyes.

"I really think we should speak alone, Yugi …"

"Ally, what's the matter?" Alana continued to cry when Yugi took her into his arms.

"Yugi … I'm pregnant!"

---

_End of Chapter_


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